DS  116  . J7  182 A  v . 1 
Josephus,  Flavius. 
The  genuine  works  of 
Josephus 


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avi 


u 


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in  2018  with  funding  from 
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FILAF2TO  MSEMUTX  ; 


WhiD.Sntith  sc. 


s 


r  v 


THE 


GENUINE  WORKS 


OF 


FLAVIUS  JOSEPHUS; 


translated  bt 


WILLIAM  WHISTON,  A.  M. 


CONTAINING 


FIVE  BOOHS 


OF  THE 


&utfcinUU0  of  ti)i  Sctos* 


TO  WHICH  ARE  PREFIXED 


THREE  DISSERTATIONS. 


YOL.  I. 


NEir-YORK. 


PUBLISHED  BY  WILLIAM  BORUADATLD, 
No.  130  Fulton-strcet. 


1824.  . 


<*  JIAHRS,  Pin  N'T  cr. 


-----  'S 


,  v  '  1  \  V  vv  » 

•  \  * 
v.  .  -tv-  ?%  -  '•  ■  - 


4 


THREE 


COSTAIOTN® 


I.  The  Testimonies  of  Josephus  concerning  Jesus 

Christ,  John  the  Baptist,  and  James  the  Just, 
vindicated. 

II.  Concerning  God’s  command  to  Abraham  to  offer 

up  Isaac  his  son  for  a  sacrifice. 

III.  A  Demonstration  that  Tacitus,  the  Roman  his¬ 

torian,  took  his  history  of  the  Jews  out  of 
Josephus. 


DISSERTATION  I. 


The  Testimonies  of  Josephus  concerning  Jesus  Christ, 
John  the  Baptist ,  and  James  the  Just ,  vindicated. 

Since  we  meet  with  several  important  testimonies  in 
Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  concerning  John  the 
Baptist,  the  forerunner  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  concerning 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  himself,  and  concerning  James  the  Just, 
l he  brother  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth ;  and  since  the  principal  tes¬ 
timony,  which  is  that  concerning  Jesus  of  Nazareth  himself, 
has  of  late  been  greatly  questioned  by  many,  and  rejected  by 
some  of  the  learned  as  spurious,  it  will  be  fit  for  me,  who  have 
ever  declared  my  firm  belief  that  these  testimonies  were  gen¬ 
uine,  to  set  down  fairly  some  of  the  original  evidence  and 
citations  I  have  met  with  in  the  first  fifteen  centuries  con¬ 
cerning  them,  and  then  to  make  proper  observations  upon 
that  evidence,  for  the  reader’s  more  complete  satisfaction. 

But  before  1  produce  the  citations  themselves  out  of  Jose¬ 
phus,  give  me  leave  to  prepare  the  reader’s  attention,  by  set¬ 
ting  down  the  sentiments  of  perhaps  the  most  learned  person, 
and  the  most  competent  judge  that  ever  was,  as  to  the  au¬ 
thority  of  Josephus,  T  mean  of  Joseph  Scaliger  in  the  Pro¬ 
legomena  to  his  book  De  Emendatione  Temporam,  p.  YJ. 
“Josephus  is  the  most  diligent  and  the  greatest  lover  of  truth 
of  all  writers :  nor  are  we  afraid  to  affirm  cf  him,  that  it  is 
more  safe  to  believe  him,  not  only  as  to  the  affairs  of  the 
Jews,  but  also  as  to  those  that  are  foreign  to  them,  than 
all  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers,  and  this,  because  his 
fidelity  and  his  compass  of  learning  are  every  where  con¬ 
spicuous.” 

A  2 


6  DISSERTATION  I. 

THE  ANCIENT  CITATIONS  OP  THE  TESTIMONIES  OF  JOSE¬ 
PHUS,  PROM  HIS  OWN  TIME  TILL*  THE  END  OF  THE  FIF¬ 
TEENTH  CENTURY. 

About  A.  D.  110.  Tacit.  Anal.  lib.  xv.  cap.  44. 

Nero,  in  order  to  stifle  the  rumour,  (as  if  he  had  himself  set 
Home  on  fire,)  ascribed  it  to  those  people  who  were  hated 
for  thcr  wicked  practices,  and  called  by  the  vulgar  Christians : 
these  he  punished  exquisitely.  The  author  oj  this  name  was 
Christ ,  who ,  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius ,  was  brought  to  punish¬ 
ment  by  Pontius  Pilate  the  Procurator. 

About  A.  D.  14 7.  Just.  Mart,  Dialog,  cum  Trypho.  p.  234. 

You  [Jews]  knew  that  Jesus  was  risen  from  the  dead,  and 
ascended  into  heaven,  as  the  prophecies  did  foretell  w?as  to 
happen. 

About  A.  D.  230.  Origen.  Comment,  in  Matth.  p.  230. 

This  James  wTas  of  so  shining  a  character  among  the  peo¬ 
ple,  on  account  of  his  righteousness,  that  Flavius  Josephus, 
when,  in  his  twentieth  book  of  the  Jewish  Antiquities,  he 
had  a  mind  to  set  down  what  was  the  cause  why  the  people 
suffered  such  miseries,  till  the  very  holy  house  was  demol¬ 
ished,  he  said,  that  these  things  befell  them  by  the  anger  of 
God,  on  account  of  what  they  had  dared  to  do  to  James,  the 
brother  of  Jesus,  who  was  called  Christ:  and  wonderful  it 
is,  that,  while  he  did  not  receive  Jesus  for  Christ,  he  did  nev¬ 
ertheless  bear  witness  that  James  was  so  righteous  a  man. 
He  says  farther,  that  the  people  thought  that  they  suffered 
these  things  for  the  sake  of  James. 

About  A.  D.  250.  Contr.  Cels.  lib.  i . p.  35,  3.6. 

I  would  say  to  Celsus,  who  personates  a  Jew,  that  admit¬ 
ted  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  how  he  baptized  Jesus,  that  one 
who  lived  but  a  little  while  after  John  and  Jesus,  wrote,  how 
that  John  was  a  baptizer  unto  the  remission  of  sins  :  for  Jo¬ 
sephus  testifies  in  the  eighteenth  book  of  Jewish  Antiquities, 
that  John  was  the  Baptist,  and  that  he  promised  purification 
to  those  that  were  baptized.  The  same  Josephus  also,  al¬ 
though  he  did  not  believe  in  Jesus  as  Christ,  when  he  was 
inquiring  after  the  cause  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and 
of  the  demolition  of  the  temple,  and  ought  to  have  said,  that 
their  machinations  against  Jesus  were  the  cause  of  those  mis¬ 
eries  coming  on  the  people,  because  they  had  slain  that 


DISSERTATION  I. 


Christ  who  was  foretold  by  the  prophets,  he,  though  as  it 
were  unwillingly,  and  yet  as  one  not  remote  from  the  truth, 
says,  “  These  miseries  befell  the  Jews  by  way  of  revenge  for 
James  the  Just,  who  was  the  brother  of  Jesus,  that  was  called 
Christ,  because  they  had  slain  him  who  was  a  most  righteous 
person.”  Now  this  James  was  he  whom  that  genuine  disciple 
of  Jesus,  Paul,  said  he  had  seen  as  the  Lord's  brother  $  (Gal. 
i.  19,)  which  relation  implies  not  so  much  nearness  of  blood,  or 
the  sameness  of  education,  as  it  does  the  agreement  of  manners 
and  preaching.  If,  therefore,  he  says  the  desolation  of  Jeru¬ 
salem  befell  the  Jews  for  the  sake  of  James,  with  how  much 
greater  reason  might  he  have  said,  that  it  happened  for  the 
sake  of  Jesus  ?  &c. 

About  A.  D.  324.  Euseb.  Demonstr.  Evan.  lib.  iii.  p.  124, 

Certainly  the  attestation  of  those  I  have  already  produced 
concerning  our  Saviour  may  be  sufficient.  However,  it  may 
not  be  amiss,  if  over  and  above,  we  make  use  of  Josephus  the 
Jew  for  a  farther  witness  ;  who,  in  the  eighteenth  book  of  his 
Antiquities,  when  he  was  writing  the  history  of  what  happen¬ 
ed  under  Pilate,  makes  mention  of  our  Saviour  in  these  words  : 
Now  there  was  about  this  time  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  it  be 
lawful  to  call  him  a  man,  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful 
works,  a  teacher  of  such  men  as  had  a  veneration  for  truth ; 
he  drew  over  to  him  both  many  of  the  Jews,  and  many  of 
the  Gentiles  :  he  was  the  Christ.  And  when  Pilate,  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  principal  men  among  us,  had  condemned 
him  to  the  cross,  those  that  loved  him  at  first  did  not  forsake 
him,  for  he  appeared  to  them  alive  again  the  third  day,  as  the 
divine  prophets  had  spoken  of  these  and  ten  thousand  other 
wonderful  things  concerning  him ;  whence  the  tribe  of 
Christians,  so  named  from  him,  are  not  extinct  at  this  day. 
If  therefore  we  have  this  historian’s  testimony,  that  he  not 
only  brought  over  to  himself  the  twelve  apostles,  with  the 
seventy  disciples,  but  many  of  the  Jews,  and  many  of  the 
Gentiles  also,  he  must  manifestly  have  had  somewhat  in  him 
extraordinary  above  the  rest  of  mankind  ;  for  how  otherwise 
could  he  draw  over  so  many  of  the  Jews  and  of  the  Gentiles, 
unless  he  performed  admirable  and  amazing  works,  and  used 
a  method  of  teaching  that  was  not  common?  Moreover, 
the  Scripture  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  bears  witness,  that 
there  were  many  ten  thousands  of  the  Jews  who  were  per¬ 
suaded  that  he  was  the  Christ  of  God,  who  was  foretold  by 
the  prophets.  (Acts  xxi.  20.) 


8 


DISSERTATION  I. 


About  A.  D.  339*  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  i.  cap.  11. 

Now  the  divine  scripture  of  the  gospel  makes  mention  of 
John  the  Baptist  as  having  his  head  cut  off  by  the  younger 
Herod.  Josephus  also  concurs  in  this  history,  and  makes 
mention  of  Herodias  by  name,  as  the  wife  of  his  brother, 
whom  Herod  had  married,  upon  divorcing  his  former  lawful 
wife.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Aretas,  king  of  the  Petrean 
Arabians ;  and  which  Herodias  he  had  parted  from  her 
husband  while  he  was  alive  :  on  which  account  also,  when  he 
had  slain  John,  he  made  war  with  Aretas,  [Aretas  made  war 
with  him,]  because  his  daughter  had  been  used  dishonourably  : 
in  which  war,  when  it  came  to  battle,  he  says  that  all  Herod’s 
army  was  destroyed,  and  that  he  suffered  this  because  of  his 
wicked  contrivance  against  John.  Moreover,  the  same 
Josephus,  by  acknowledging  John  to  have  been  a  most  righte¬ 
ous  man,  and  the  Baptist,  conspires  in  his  testimony  with 
what  is  written  in  the  gospels.  He  also  relates,  that  Herod 
lost  his  kingdom  for  the  sake  of  the  same  Herodias,  together 
with  whom  he  himself  was  condemned  to  be  banished  to  Vi¬ 
enne,  a  city  of  Gaul.  And  this  is  his  account  in  the  eighteenth 
book  of  the  Antiquities,  where  he  writes  thus  of  John  ver¬ 
batim  :  Some  of  the  Jews  thought  that  the  destruction  of 
Herod’s  army  came  from  God,  and  that  very  justly,  as  a 
punishment  for  what  he  did  against  John  that  was  called  the 
Baptist,  for  Herod  slew  him,  who  was  a  good  man,  and  one 
that  commanded  the  Jews  to  exercise  virtue,  both  as  to 
righteousness  towards  one  another,  and  piety  towards  God, 
and  so  to  come  to  baptism,  for  that  by  this  means  the  washing 
[with  water]  would  appear  acceptable  to  him ;  when  they 
made  use  of  it,  not  in  order  to  the  putting  away  [or  the  re¬ 
mission]  of  some  sins  [only,]  but  for  the  purification  of  the 
body,  supposing  still  that  the  soul  were  thoroughly  purified 
beforehand  by  righteousness.  Now  when  [many]  others 
came  in  crowds  about  him,  for  they  were  greatly  delighted 
in  hearing  his  words,  Herod  was  afraid  that  this  so  great 
power  of  persuading  men,  might  tend  to  some  sedition  or 
other,  for  they  seemed  to  be  disposed  to  do  every  thing  he 
should  advise  them  to ;  so  he  supposed  it  better  to  prevent 
any  attempt  for  a  mutation  from  him  by  cutting  him  off,  than 
after  any  such  mutation  should  be  brought  about,  and  the 
public  should  suffer,  to  repent  [of  such  negligence.]  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  he  was  sent  a  prisoner,  out  of  Herod’s  suspicious 
temper,  to  Machaerus,  the  castle  I  before  mentioned,  and  was 


DISSERTATION  I. 


9 


there  put  to  death. — When  Josephus  had  said  this  of  John, 
he  makes  mention  also  of  our  Saviour  in  the  same  history, 
after  this  manner :  Now  there  was  about  this  time  one  Jesus, 
a  wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call  him  a  man,  for  he  was  a 
doer  of  wonderful  works,  a  teacher  of  such  men  as  receive  the 
truth  with  pleasure  ;  he  drew  over  to  him  both  many  of  the 
Jews,  and  many  of  the  Gentiles  also  :  he  was  the  Christ.  And 
when  Pilate,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  principal  men  among 
us,  had  condemned  him  to  the  cross,  those  that  loved  him  at 
first  did  not  forsake  him,  for  he  appeared  to  them  alive  again 
the  third  day,  as  the  divine  prophets  had  foretold  these,  and 
ted  thousand  other  wonderful  things  concerning  him.  And 
still  the  tribe  of  Christians,  so  named  from  him,  are  not  ex¬ 
tinct  at  this  day.  And  since  this  writer,  sprung  from  the 
Hebrews  themselves,  hath  delivered  these  things  above  in  his 
own  work,  concerning  John  the  Baptist  and  our  Saviour, 
what  room  is  there  for  any  farther  evasion  ?  &c. 

Now  James  was  so  wonderful  a  person,  and  was  so  cele¬ 
brated  by  all  others  for  righteousness,  that  the  judicious 
Jews  thought  this  to  have  been  the  occasion  of  that  siege  of 
Jerusalem,  which  came  on  presently  after  his  martyrdom, 
and  that  it  befell  them  for  no  other  reason,  than  that  impi¬ 
ous  fact  they  were  guilty  of  against  him.  Josephus  there¬ 
fore,  did  not  refuse  to  attest  thereto  in  writing,  by  the  words 
following  :  These  miseries  befell  the  Jews  by  way  of  revenge 
for  James  the  Just,  who  was  the  brother  of  Jesus  that  was 
called  Christ ,  on  this  account,  that  they  had  slain  him  who 
wras  a  most  righteous  person. 

The  same  Josephus  declares  the  manner  of  his  death  in 
<the  twentieth  book  of  the  Antiquities,  in  these  words  :  Cae¬ 
sar  sent  Albinus  into  Judea  to  be  procurator,  when  he  had 
beard  that  Festus  was  dead.  Now  Ananus  junior,  who,  as 
we  said,  had  been  admitted  to  the  high-priesthood,  was  in 
his  temper  bold  and  daring  in  an  extraordinary  manner.  He 
was  also  of  the  sect  of  the  Sadducees,  who  are  more  savage 
in  judgment  than  any  of  the  other  Jews,  as  we  have  already 
signified.  Since  therefore  this  was  the  character  of  Ananus, 
lie  thought  he  had  now  a  proper  opportunity  [to  exercise  his 
authority,]  because  Festus  was  dead,  and  Albinus  was  but 
upon  the  road:  so  he  assembles  the  sanhedrim  of  judges,  and 
brings  before  them  James,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  who  was 
called  Christ ,  and  some  others  [of  his  companions,]  and 
when  he  had  formed  an  accusation  against  them,  as  breakers 
of  the  law,  he  delivered  them  to  be  stoned :  but  as  for  those 


10 


DISSERTATION  I. 


who  seemed  the  most  equitable  of  the  citizens,  and  those 
who  were  the  most  uneasy  at  the  breach  of  the  laws,  they 
disliked  what  was  done.  They  also  sent  to  the  king  [Agrip- 
pa,j  desiring  him  to  send  to  Ananus  that  he  should  act  so 
no  more,  for  that  what  he  had  already  done  could  not  be 
justified,  &c. 

About  A.  D.  360.  Ambrose  or  Hegesippus  de  Excid.  Urb. 

Hierosolym.  lib.  ii.  cap.  12. 

We  have  discovered  that  it  was  the  opinion  and  belief  of 
the  Jews,  as  Josephus  affirms,  [who  is  an  author  not  to  be 
rejected,  when  he  writes  against  himself,)  that  Herod  lost 
his  army,  not  by  the  deceit  of  men,  but  by  the  anger  of  God, 
and  that  justly,  as  an  effect  of  revenge  for  what  he  did  to 
John  the  Baptist,  a  just  man,  who  had  said  to  him,  It  is  not 
lawful  for  thee  to  have  thy  brother’s  ivife. 

The  Jews  themselves  also  bear  witness  to  Christ,  as  ap¬ 
pears  by  Josephus,  the  writer  of  their  history,  who  says 
thus  :  That  there  was  at  that  time  a  wise  man,  if,  says  he, 
it  be  lawful  to  have  him  called  a  man,  a  doer  of  wonderful 
works,  who  appeared  to  his  disciples  after  the  third  day, 
from  his  death,  alive  again,  according  to  the  writings  of  the 
prophets,  who  foretold  these  and  innumerable  other  mira¬ 
culous  events  concerning  him ;  front  whom  began  the  con¬ 
gregation  of  Christians,  and  hath  penetrated  among  all  sorts 
of  men  :  nor  does  there  remain  any  nation  in  the  Roman 
world,  which  continues  strangers  to  his  religion.  If  the 
Jews  do  not  believe  us,  let  them  at  least  believe  their  own 
writers.  Josephus,  whom  they  esteem  a  very  great  man, 
hath  said  this,  and  yet  hath  he  spoken  truth  after  such  a  man¬ 
ner,  and  so  far  was  his  mind  wandered  from  the  right  way, 
that  even  he  was  not  a  believer,  as  to  what  he  himself  said; 
but  thus  he  spake  in  order  to  deliver  historical  truth  because 
he  thought  it  not  lawful  for  him  to  deceive,  while  yet  he  was  no 
believer,  because  of  the  hardness  of  his  heart,  and  his  per¬ 
fidious  intention.  However,  it  was  no  prejudice  to  the  truth 
that  he  was  not  a  believer,  but  this  adds  more  weight  to  his 
testimony,  that  while  he  was  an  unbeliever,  and  unwilling 
this  should  be  true,  he  has  not  denied  it  to  be  so. 

About  A.  D.  400.  Hieronym.  de  Vir.  illustr.  in  Josepho. 

Josephus  in  the  eighteenth  book  of  Antiquities,  most  ex- 

‘ 

1 


DISSERTATION  I. 


11 


pressly  acknowledges,  that  Christ  was  slain  by  the  Pharisees 
on  account  of  the  greatness  of  his  miracles ;  and  that  John 
the  Baptist  was  truly  a  prophet  j  and  that  Jerusalem  was  de¬ 
molished  on  account  of  the  slaughter  of  James  the  apostle. 
Now  he  wrote  concerning  our  Lord  after  this  manner :  At 
the  same  time  there  was  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  yet  it  be  law¬ 
ful  to  call  him  a  man,  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works, 
a  teacher  of  those  who  willingly  receive  the  truth.  He  had 
many  followers  both  of  the  Jews  and  of  the  Gentiles :  he 
was  believed  to  be  Christ.  And  when,  by  the  envy  of  our 
principal  men,  Pilate  had  condemned  him  to  the  cross,  this 
notwithstanding,  those  who  had  loved  him  at  first,  persever¬ 
ed,  for  he  appeared  to  them  alive  on  the  third  day,  as  the  ora¬ 
cles  of  the  prophets  had  foretold  many  of  these,  and  other 
wonderful  things  concerning  him  :  and  the  sect  of  Christians, 
so  named  from  him,  are  not  extinct  at  this  day. 

About  A.  D.  410.  Isidorus  Pelusiotas ,  the  scholar  of  Chry¬ 
sostom,  lib.  iv.  ejpist.  225. 

There  was  one  Josephus,  a  Jew  of  the  greatest  reputa¬ 
tion,  and  one  that  was  zealous  of  the  law  ;  one  also  that  par¬ 
aphrased  the  Old  Testament  with  truth,  and  acted  valiantly 
for  the  Jews,  and  had  showed  that  their  settlement  was 
nobler  than  can  be  described  by  words.  Now  since  he 
made  their  intmest  give  place  to  truth,  for  he  would  not 
support  the  opinion  of  impious  men,  I  think  it  necessary  to 
set  down  his  words.  What  then  does  he  sa^  ?  Now  there  was 
about  that  time,  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call  him 
a  man,  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works,  a  teacher  of 
such  men  as  receive  the  truth  with  pleasure.  He  drew  over 
to  him  both  many  of  the  Jews,  and  many  of  tne  Gentiles: 
he  was  the  Christ.  And  when  Pilate,  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  principal  men  among  us,  had  condemned  him  to  the 
cross,  those  that  loved  him  at  first  did  not  forsake  him,  for 
he  appeared  to  them  the  third  day  alive  again,  as  the  di¬ 
vine  prophets  had  said  these,  and  a  vast  number  of  other 
wonderful  things  concerning  him  :  and  the  tribe  of  Chris¬ 
tians,  so  named  from  him,  are  not  extinct  at  this  day.  Now 
I  cannot  but  wonder  greatly  at  this  man’s  love  of  truth 
in  many  respects,  but  chiefly  where  he  says,  “  Jesus  was  a 
teacher  of  men,  which  received  the  truth  with  pleasure.” 

About  A.  D.  440.  Sozomen.  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  i.  cap.  1. 

Notv  Josephus,  the  son  of  Mattathias,  a  priest,  a  man  of 


12 


DISSERTATION  I. 


very  great  note  both  among  the  Jews  and  the  Romans,  may 
well  be  a  witness  of  credit  as  to  the  truth  of  Christ’s  histo¬ 
ry  ;  for  he  scruples  to  call  him  a  man,  as  being  a  doer  of 
wonderful  works,  and  a  teacher  of  the  words  of  truth :  he 
names  him  Christ  openly ;  and  is  not  ignorant  that  he  was 
condemned  to  the  cross,  and  appeared  on  the  third  day  alive, 
and  that  ten  thousand  other  wonderful  things  were  foretold 
of  him  by  the  divine  prophets.  He  testifies  also,  that  those 
whom  he  drew  over  to  him,  being  many  of  the  Gentiles,  as 
well  as  of  the  Jews,  continued  to  love  him ;  and  that  the 
tribe  named  from  him  was  not  then  extinct.  Now  he  seems 
to  me  by  this  his  relation,  almost  to  proclaim  that  Christ  is 
God.  However,  he  appears  to  have  been  so  affected  with 
the  strangeness  of  the  thing,  as  to  run  as  it  were  in  a  sort  of  a 
middle  way,  so  as  not  to  put  any  indignity  upon  believers  in 
him,  but  rather  to  afford  his  suffrage  to  them. 

About  A.  D.  510.  Cassiodorus  Hist.  Tripartit.  e  Sozomeno, 

Now  Josephus,  the  son  of  Mattathias,  and  a  priest,  a  man 
of  great  nobility  among  the  Jews,  and  of  a  great  dignity 
among  the  Romans,  shall  be  a  truth  of  Christ’s  history  :  for 
he  dares  not  call  him  a  man,  as  a  doer  of  famous  works,  and 
a  teacher  of  true  doctrines ;  he  names  him  Christ  openly ; 
and  is  not  ignorant  that  he  was  condemned  to  the  cross,  and 
appeared  on  the  third  day  alive,  and  that  an  infinite  number 
of  other  wonderful  things  were  foretold  of  him  by  the  holy 
prophets.  Moreover,  he  testifies  also,  that  there  were  then 
alive  many  whom  he  had  chosen,  both  Greeks  and  Jews,  and 
that  they  continued  to  love  him;  and  that  the  sect  which 
was  named  from  him,  was  by  no  means  extinct  at  that  time, 

About  A.  D.  640.  Chron.  Alex.  p.  514. 

Now  Josephus  also  relates  in  the  eighteenth  book  of  An¬ 
tiquities,  how  John  the  Baptist,  that  holy  man,  was  behead¬ 
ed  on  account  of  Herodias,  the  wife  of  Philip,  the  brother 
of  Herod  himself:  for  Herod  had  divorced  his  former  wife, 
who  was  still  alive,  and  had  been  his  lawful  wife :  she  was 
the  daughter  of  Aretas,  king  of  the  Petreans.  When  there¬ 
fore,  Herod  had  taken  Herodias  away  from  her  husband, 
while  he  was  yet  alive,  [on  whose  account  he  slew  John 
also,]  Aretas  made  war  against  Herod,  because  his  daughter 
had  been  dishonourably  treated:  in  which  war  he  says,  that 
all  Herod’s  army  was  destroyed,  and  that  lie  suffered  that 


DISSERTATION  I. 


13 


calamity  because  of  the  wickedness  he  had  been  guilty  of 
against  John.  The  same  Josephus  relates,  that  Herod  lost 
his  kingdom  on  account  of  Herodias,  and  that  with  her  he 
was  banished  to  Lyons,  &c. 

P.  52 6,  527-]  Now  that  our  Saviour  taught  his  preach- 
ing  three  years,  is  demonstrated  both  by  other  necessary 
reasonings,  as  also  out  of  the  holy  gospels,  and  out  of  Jose¬ 
phus’s  writings,  who  was  a  wise  man  among  the  Hebrews, 
&c. 

P.  585,  58G.]  Josephus  relates,  in  the  fifth  book  of  the 
[Jewish]  war,  that  Jerusalem  was  taken  in  the  third  [second] 
year  of  Vespasian,  as  after  forty  years  since  they  had  dared 
to  put  Jesus  to  death  :  in  which  time  he  says,  that  James,  the 
brother  of  our  Lord,  and  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  was  thrown 
down  [from  the  temple,]  and  slain  of  them,  by  stoning. 

About  A.  D.  740.  Anastasias  Abbas  contr.  Jud. 

Now  Josephus,  an  author  and  writer  of  our  own,  says  of 
Christ,  that  he  was  a  just  and  good  man,  showed  and  de¬ 
clared  so  to  be  by  divine  grace,  who  gave  aid  to  many  by  signs 
and  miracles. 

About  A.  D.  790.  Georgius  Syncellus  Citron,  p.  339. 

These  miseries  befell  the  Jews  by  way  of  revenge  for 
James  the  Just,  who  was  the  brother  of  Jesus  that  was  call¬ 
ed  Christ,  on  the  account  that  they  had  slain  him  who  was  a 
most  righteous  person.  Now  as  Ananus,  a  person  of  that 
character,  thought  he  had  a  proper  opportunity,  because  Fes- 
tus  was  dead,  and  Albinus  was  but  upon  the  road,  so  he  as¬ 
sembles  the  sanhedrim  of  Judges,  and  brings  before  them 
James,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  who  was  called  Christ,  and  some 
of  his  companions  ;  and  when  he  had  formed  an  accusation 
against  them,  as  breakers  of  the  law,  he  delivered  them  to  be 
stoned  ;  but  as  for  those  that  seemed  the  most  equitable  of 
the  citizens,  and  those  that  were  the  most  uneasy  at  the  breach 
of  the  laws,  they  disliked  what  was  done.  They  also  sent 
to  the  king  [Agrippa,]  desiring  him  to  send  to  Ananus  that 
he  should  act  so  no  more,  for  that  what  he  had  already  done 
could  not  be  justified,  &c. 


# 


b 


t 


voi.  r. 


14 


DISSERTATION  I. 


About  A.  D.  850.  Jolian.  Malela  Chron.  lib.  x. 

From  that  time  began  the  destruction  of  the  Jews,  as  Jo¬ 
sephus,  the  philosopher  of  the  Hebrews,  hath  written  :  who 
also  said  this,  that  from  the  time  the  Jews  crucified  Christ, 
who  was  a  good  and  righteous  man,  (that  is,  if  it  be  fit  to  call 
such  an  one  a  man,  and  not  a  God,)  the  land  of  Judea  was 
never  free  from  trouble.  These  things  the  same  Josephus 
the  Jew  has  related  in  his  writings. 

About  A.  D.  860.  Photius  Cod.  lib.  xlviii. 

I  have  read  the  treatise  of  Josephus  about  the  universe , 
whose  title  I  have  elsewhere  read  to  be,  Of  the  substance  of 
the  universe.  It  is  contained  in  two  very  small  treatises. 
He  treats  of  the  origin  of  the  world  in  a  brief  manner. 
However,  he  speaks  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  who  is  our 
true  God,  in  a  way  very  like  to  what  we  use,  declaring  that 
the  same  name  of  Christ  belongs  to  him,  and  writes  of  his 
ineffable  generation  of  the  Father  after  such  a  manner  as 
cannot  be  blamed  ;  which  thing  may  perhaps  raise  a  doubt 
in  some,  whether  Josephus  were  the  author  of  the  work, 
though  the  phraseology  does  not  at  all  differ  from  this  man’s 
other  works.  However,  I  have  found  in  some  papers,  that 
this  discourse  was  not  written  by  Josephus,  but  by  one  Cains 
a  Presbyter. 

Cod.  ccxxxviii.]  Herod  the  tetrarch  of  Galilee  and  of 
Perea,  the  son  of  Herod  the  Great  fell  in  love,  as  Josephus 
says,  with  the  wife  of  his  brother  Herod,  whose  name  was 
Herodias ,  who  was  the  grand-daughter  of  Herod,  the  Great, 
by  his  son  Aristobulus,  whom  he  had  slain.  Agrippa  was 
also  her  brother.  Now  Herod  took  her  away  from  her  hus¬ 
band  and  married  her.  This  is  he  that  slew  John  the  Bap¬ 
tist,  that  great  man,  the  forerunner  [of  Christ,]  being  afraid 
(as  Josephus  says)  lest  he  should  raise  a  sedition  among  his 
people  ;  for  they  all  followed  the  directions  of  John,  cm  ac¬ 
count  of  the  excellency  of  his  virtue.  In  his  time  was  the 
passion  of  our  Saviour. 

Cod.  xxxiii.]  I  have  read  the  Chronicle  of  Justus  of  Ti¬ 
berias.  He  omits  the  greatest  part  of  what  was  most  neces¬ 
sary  to  be  related  ;  but,  as  infected  with  Jewish  prejudices, 
being  also  himself  a  Jew  by  birth,  he  makes  no  mention  at 
all  of  the  advent,  or  of  the  acts  done,  or  of  the  miracles 
wrought  by  Christ. 


DISSERTATION  I.  IS 

The  time  uncertain.  Macarius  in  Actis  Sanctorom,  tom.  v. 
p.  149.  ctp.  Fabric.  Joseph,  p.  6l. 

Josephus,  a  priest  of  Jerusalem,  and  one  that  wrote  with 
truth  the  history  of  the  Jewish  affairs,  bears  witness,  that 
Christ,  the  true  God,  was  incarnate,  and  crucified,  and  the 
third  day  rose  again  ;  whose  writings  are  reposited  in  the 
public  library.  Thus  he  says  :  Now  there  w'as  about  this 
time  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call  him  a  man,  for 
he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works,  a  teacher  of  such  men  as 
receive  the  truth  with  pleasure  :  he  drew  over  to  him  both 
many  of  the  Jews,  and  many  of  the  Gentiles  also  :  this  was 
the  Christ.  And  when  Pilate,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  prin¬ 
cipal  men  among  us,  had  condemned  him  to  the  cross,  those 
that  loved  nim  at  first  did  not  forsake  him,  for  he  appeared  to 
them  alive  again  the  third  day,  as  the  divine  prophets  had 
foretold  these  and  ten  thousand  other  wonderful  things  con¬ 
cerning  him.  And  still  the  tribe  of  Christians,  so  named 
from  him,  are  not  extinct  at  this  day.  Since  therefore, 
the  writer  of  the  Hebrews  has  engraven  his  testimony  con¬ 
cerning  our  Lord  and  Saviour  in  his  own  books,  what  defence 
can  there  remain  for  unbelievers  ? 

About  A.  D.  980.  Suidas  in  voce  Jesous. 

We  have  found  Josephus,  who  hath  written  about  the  ta¬ 
king  of  Jerusalem,  (of  whom  Eusebius  Pamphili  makes 
frequent  mention  in  his  ecclesiastical  history,)  saying  open¬ 
ly  in  his  memoirs  of  the  captivity,  that  Jesus  officiated  in 
the  temple  with  the  priests.  This  we  have  found  Josephus 
saying,  a  man  of  ancient  times,  and  not  very  long  after  the 
apostles,  &c. 

About  A.  D.  1060.  Cedrenus  Compend.  Iiistor.p.  19C. 

Josephus  does  indeed  write  concerning  John  the  Baptist 
as  follows  :  Some  of  the  Jews  thought  that  the  destruction 
of  Herod’s  army  came  from  God,  and  that  he  was  punish¬ 
ed  very  justly  for  what  punishment  he  inflicted  on  John, 
that  was  called  the  Baptist ,  for  Herod  slew  him,  who  was  a 
good  man,  and  commanded  the  Jews  to  exercise  virtue,  both 
by  righteousness  towards  one  another,  and  piety  towards 
God,  and  so  to  come  to  baptism.  But  as  concerning  Christ, 
the  same  Josephus  says,  that  about  that  time,  there  was  Je¬ 
sus,  a  wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call  him  a  man,  for  he 
was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works,  and  a  teacher  of  such  men 


36 


DISSERTATION  I. 


as  receive  the  truth  with  pleasure,  for  that  Christ  drew 
over  many  even  from  the  Gentiles  :  whom  when  Pilate  had 
crucified,  those  who  at  first  had  loved  him  did  not  leave  off 
to  preach  concerning  him,  for  he  appeared  to  them  the  third 
day  alive  again,  as  the  divine  prophets  had  testified,  and  spo¬ 
ken  these  and  other  wonderful  things  concerning  him. 

About  A.  D.  1080.  Theopliylact.  in  Joan.  lib.  xiii. 

The  city  of  the  Jews  was  taken,  and  the  wrath  of  God  was 
kindled  against  them  ;  as  also  Josephus  witnesses,  that  this 
came  upon  them  on  account  of  the  death  of  Jesus. 

About  A  D.  1120.  Zonarus  Annal.  tom.  i.p.  2 6J. 

Josephus,  in  the  eighteenth  book  of  Antiquities,  writes 
thus  concerning  our  Lord  and  God  Jesus  Christ  :  Now  there 
was  about  this  time  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call 
him  a  man,  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works,  a  teacher 
of  such  men  as  receive  the  truth  with  pleasure.  Pie  drew 
over  to  him  many  of  the  Jews  and  many  of  the  Gentiles  :  he 
was  the  Christ.  And  when  Pilate,  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
principal  men  among  us,  had  condemned  him  to  the  cross, 
those  that  had  loved  him  at  first  did  not  forsake  him,  for  he 
appeared  to  them  the  third  day  alive  again,  as  the  divine 
prophets  had  said  these  and  ten  thousand  other  wonderful 
things  concerning  him  ;  and  the  tribe  of  Christians,  so  named 
from  him,  are  not  extinct  at  this  day. 

About  A.  D.  1120.  Glycas  Annal. p.  234. 

Then  did  Philo,  that  wise  man,  and  Josephus  flourish. 
This  last  was  styled,  The  lover  of  truth,  because  he  commen¬ 
ded  John,  who  baptized  our  Lord  ;  and  because  he  bore  wit¬ 
ness  that  Christ,  in  like  manner,  was  a  wise  man,  and  the  do¬ 
er  of  great  miracles  ;  and  that  when  he  w’as  crucified  he  ap¬ 
peared  the  third  day. 

About  A  D.  1240.  Godfridus  Viterbiensis  Chron. p.  366. 

e.  Vers.  Riifini. 

Josephus  relates,  that  a  very  great  war  arose  between  Are- 
tas,  king  of  the  Arabians,  and  Herod,  on  account  of  the  sin 
■which  Plerod  Jiad  committed  against  John.  Moreover,  the 
same  Josephus  writes  thus  concerning  Christ  :  There  was 
at  this  time  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  at  least  it  be  lawful  to  call 
him  a  man,  for  he  was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works,  a  teacher 


DISSERTATION  I. 


IT 

of  such  men  as  willingly  hear  truth.  He  also  drew  over  to 
him  many  of  the  Jews  and  many  of  the  Gentiles  :  he  was 
Christ.  And  when  Pilate,  at  the  accusation  of  the  principal 
men  of  our  nation,  had  decreed  that  he  should  be  crucified, 
those  that  had  loved  him  from  the  beginning  did  not  forsake 
him,  for  he  appeared  to  them  the  third  day  alive  again,  ac¬ 
cording  to  what  the  divinely  inspired  prophets  had  foretold, 
that  these  and  innumerable  other  miracles  should  come  to 
pass  about  him.  Moreover,  both  the  name  and  sect  of  Chris¬ 
tians,  who  were  named  from  him,  continue  in  being  unto  this 
day. 

About  A.  D.  1360.  Nicephoras  Callistus  Hist.  Eccles.  lib. 

i.  p.  90,91. 

Now  this  [concerning  Herod  the  tetraich]  is  attested  to, 
not  only  by  the  book  of  the  holy  gospels,  but  by  Josephus, 
that  lover  of  truth  ;  who  also  makes  mention  of  Herodias 
his  brother’s  wife,  whom  Herod  had  taken  away  from  him, 
while  he  was  alive,  and  married  her,  having  divorced  his 
former  lawful  wife,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Aretas,  king  of 
the  Petrean  Arabians.  This  Herodias  he  had  married,  and 
lived  with  her  :  on  which  account  also,  when  he  had  slain 
John,  he  made  war  with  Aretas,  because  his  daughter  had 
been  dishonourably  used  ;  in  which  war  he  relates,  that  all 
Herod’s  army  was  destroyed,  and  that  he  suffered  this  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  most  unjust  slaughter  of  John.  He  also  adds, 
that  John  was  a  most  righteous  man.  Moreover,  he  makes 
mention  of  his  baptism,  agreeing  in  all  points  thereto  relating 
with  the  gospel.  He  also  informs  us,  that  Herod  lost  his  king¬ 
dom  on  account  of  Herodias,  with  whom  also  he  was  con¬ 
demned  to  be  banished  to  Vienne,  which  was  their  place  of 
exile,  a  city  bordering  upon  Gaul,  and  lying  near  the  utmost 
bounds  of  the  west. 

About  A.  D.  1450.  Hardmanus  Schedelius  Chron.p.  110. 

Josephus  the  Jew,  who  was  called  Flavius,  a  priest,  and 
the  son  of  Mattathias,  a  priest  of  that  nation,  a  most  celebra¬ 
ted  historian,  and  very  skilful  in  many  things :  he  was  certain¬ 
ly  a  good  man,  and  of  an  excellent  character,  who  had  the 
highest  opinion  of  Christ. 

About  A.  D.  1480.  Platina  de  Vitis  Pontificum  in  Christo. 

I  shall  avoid  mentioning  what  Christ  did  until  the  30th 
year  of  his  age.  when  he  was  baptized  by  John  the.  son  of 

B  2 


18 


DISSERTATION  I. 


Zacharias,  because  not  only  the  gospels  anti  epistles  are  full 
of  those  acts  of  his,  which  he  did  in  the  most  excellent  and 
most  holy  manner,  but  the  books  of  such  as  are  quite  remote 
from  his  way  of  living  and  acting,  and  ordaining,  are  also 
full  of  the  same.  Flavius  Josephus  himself  who  wrote  twen¬ 
ty  books  of  the  Jewish  Antiquities  in  the  Greek  tongue, 
when  he  had  proceeded  as  far  as  the  government  of  the  em¬ 
peror  Tiberius,  says,  there  was  in  those  days  Jesus,  a  certain 
wise  man,  if  at  least  it  be  lawful  to  call  him  a  man,  for  he 
was  a  doer  of  wonderful  works,  and  a  teacher  of  men,  of 
such  especially  as  willingly  hear  the  truth.  On  this  account, 
he  drew  over  to  him  many  both  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles  : 
he  was  Christ.  But  when  Pilate,  instigated  by  the  principal 
men  of  our  nation,  had  decreed  that  he  should  be  crucified, 
yet  did  not  those  that  had  loved  him  from  the  beginning  for¬ 
sake  him  :  and  besides,  he  appeared  to  them  the  third  day 
after  his  death  alive,  as  the  divinely  inspired  prophets  had 
foretold  that  these  and  innumerable  other  miracles  should 
come  to  pass  about  him.  And  the  famous  name  of  Chris¬ 
tians,  taken  from  him,  as  well  as  their  sect,  do  still  continue 
in  being. 

The  same  Josephus  also  affirms,  that  John  the  Baptist,  a 
true  prophet,  and  on  that  account,  one  that  was  had  in  esteem 
by  all  men,  was  slain  by  Herod,  the  son  of  Herod  the  Great, 
a  little  before  the  death  of  Christ,  in  the  castle  Machaerus  ; 
not  because  he  was  afraid  for  himself  and  his  kingdom,  as 
the  same  author  says,  but  because  he  had  incestuously  mar¬ 
ried  Herodias,  the  sister  of  Agrippa,  and  the  wife  of  that  ex¬ 
cellent  person  his  brother  Philip. 

About  A.  D.  1480.  Trithemius  Abbas  de  Script  or .  Eccles. 

Josephus  the  Jew,  although  he  continued  to  be  a  Jew,  did 
frequently  commend  the  Christians  ;  and,  in  the  eighteenth 
book  of  Antiquities,  wrote  down  an  eminent  testimony  con¬ 
cerning  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


OBSERVATIONS. 

FROM  THE  FOREGOING  EVIDENCE  AND  CITATIONS, 

I.  THE  style  of  all  these  original  testimonies  belonging 
iQ  Josephus,  is  exactly  the  style  of  the  same  Josepnus,  and 


DISSERTATION  I. 


ID 


especially  the  style  about  those  parts  of  his  Antiquities  where¬ 
in  we  find  these  testimonies.  This  is  denied  by  no  body,  as 
to  the  other  concerning  John  the  Baptist,  and  James  the  Just, 
and  now  is  become  equally  undeniable  as  to  that  concerning 
Christ. 

II.  These  testimonies,  therefore,  being  confessedly  and 
undeniably  written  by  Josephus  himself,  it  is  next  to  impos¬ 
sible  that  he  should  wholly  omit  some  testimony  concern¬ 
ing  Jesus  Christ;  nay,  while  his  testimonies  of  John  the 
Baptist,  and  of  James  the  Just,  are  so  honourable,  and  give 
them  so  great  characters,  it  is  also  impossible  that  his  testi¬ 
mony  concerning  Christ  should  be  other  than  very  honoura¬ 
ble,  or  such  as  afforded  him  a  still  greater  character  also. 
Could  the  very  same  author,  who  gave  such  a  full  and  advan¬ 
tageous  character  of  John  the  Baptist,  the  forerunner  to  Je¬ 
sus  of  Nazareth,  all  whose  disciples  were  by  him  directed  to 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  to  the  true  Messias,  and  all  whom  be¬ 
came  afterwards  the  disciples  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  say  no¬ 
thing  honourable  of  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  himself;  and 
this  in  an  history  of  those  very  times  in  which  he  was 
born,  and  lived  and  died,  and  that  while  the  writer  lived  but 
a  little  after  him  in  the  same  country  in  which  he  was  born, 
and  lived  and  died  ?  This  is  almost  incredible.  And  fur¬ 
ther,  could  the  very  same  author  who  gave  such  an  advan¬ 
tageous  character  of  James  the  Just,  and  this  under  the 
very  appellation  of  James  the  brother  of  Jesus,  tolio  teas 
called  Christ,  which  James  was  one  of  the  principal  disci¬ 
ples  or  apostles  of  this  Jesus  Christ,  and  had  been  many 
years  the  only  Christian  bishop  of  the  believing  Jews  of  Ju¬ 
dea  and  Jerusalem,  in  the  very  da}'s,  and  in  the  very  coun¬ 
try  of  this  writer;  could  he,  I  say,  wholly  omit  any,  nay, 
a  very  honourable  account  of  Jesus  Christ,  himself,  whose 
disciple  and  bishop  this  James  most  certainly  was  ?  This 
is  almost  incredible.  Hear  what  Ittigius,  one  of  the  wisest 
and  learnedest  of  all  those  who  have  lately  inclined  to  give 
up  the  testimony  concerning  Christ,  as  it  stands  in  our  copies 
for  spurious,  says  upon  this  occasion  :  “  If  any  one  object 
tome,  that  Josephus  hath  not  omitted  John  the  Baptist,  the 
forerunner  of  Christ,  nor  James  the  disciple  of  Christ,  and 
that  therefore  he  could  not  have  done  the  part  of  a  good  his¬ 
torian,  if  he  had  been  entirely  silent  concerning  Christ,  I 
shall  freely  grant  that  Josephus  was  not  entirely  silent  con¬ 
cerning  Christ ;  nay,  I  shall  further  grant,  that  when  Jose¬ 
phus  was  speaking  of  Christ,  he  did  not  abstain  from  his  com- 


20 


DISSERTATION  I. 


mendation  ;  for  we  are  not  to  determine  from  that  inveterate 
hatred  which  the  modern  Jews  bear  to  Christ,  what  was  the 
behaviour  of  those  Jews,  upon  whom  the  miracles  that  were 
daily  wrought  by  the  apostles  in  the  name  of  Christ,  imprin¬ 
ted  a  sacred  horror.” 

III.  The  famous  clause  in  this  testimony  of  Josephus  con¬ 
cerning  Christ,  This  teas  Christ,  or  the  Christ,  did  not  mean 
that  this  Jesus  was  the  Christ  *>f  God  or  the  true  Messias  of 
the  Jews,  but  that  this  Jesus  was  distinguished  from  all  oth¬ 
ers  of  that  name,  of  which  there  were  not  a  few,  as  mention¬ 
ed  by  Josephus  himself,  by  the  addition  of  the  other  name  of 
Christ  ;  or  that  this  person  was  no  other  than  he  whom  all 
the  world  knew  by  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  follow¬ 
ers  by  the  name  of  Christians.  This  I  esteem  to  be  a  clear 
case,  and  that  from  the  arguments  following  : 

(lr)  The  Greeks  and  Romans,  for  whose  use  Josephus 
wrote  his  Antiquities,  could  no  otherwise  understand  these 
words.  The  Jews  indeed,  and  afterwards  the  Christians, 
who  knew  that  a  great  Messias,  a  person  that  was  to  be  Christ, 
the  Anointed  of  God,  that  was  to  perform  the  office  of  a  King, 
a  Priest  and  a  Prophet,  to  God’s  people,  might  readily  so 
understand  this  expression  ;  but  Josephus,  as  I  have  already 
noted,  wrote  here,  not  to  Jews  or  Christians,  but  to  Greeks 
and  Romans,  who  knew  nothing  of  this,  but  knew  very  well 
that  an  eminent  person  living  in  Judea,  whose  name  was  Je¬ 
sus  Chrest  or  Jesus  Christ,  had  founded  a  new  and  a  nume¬ 
rous  sect,  which  took  the  latter  of  those  names,  and  were  ev¬ 
ery  where  from  him  called  Chrestians,  or  Christians ;  in 
which  sense  alone  could  they  understand  these  words  of  Jo¬ 
sephus,  and  in  which  sense  I  believe  he  desired  they  should 
understand  them  :  nor  does  Josephus  ever  use  the  Hebrew 
term  Messiah  in  any  of  his  writings,  nor  the  Greek  term 
Christ  in  any  such  acceptation  elsewhere. 

(2.)  Josephus  himself  as  good  as  explains  his  own  mean¬ 
ing,  and  that  by  the  last  clause  of  this  very  passage,  where 
he  says  the  Christians  were  named  from  this  Christ,  without 
a  syllable,  as  though  he  really  meant  he  was  the  true  Rlessi- 
ah}  or  Christ  of  God.  He  farther  seems  to  me  to  explain 
this  his  meaning  in  that  other  place,  where  alone  he  else¬ 
where  mentions  this  name  of  Christ,  that  is,  when  upon 
occasion  of  the  mention  of  James,  when  he  was  condemned 
by  Ananus,  he  calls  him  the  Brother  of  Jesus ,  not  that  was 
the  true  Messiah ,  or  the  true  Christ,  but  only  that  was  called 
Christ 


DISSERTATION  I. 


21 

(3.)  It  was  quite  beside  the  purpose  of  Josephus  to  de¬ 
clare  himself  here  to  be  a  Christian,  or  a  believer  in  Jesus 
as  the  true  Messiah.  Had  he  intended  so  to  do,  he  would 
surely  have  explained  the  meaning  of  the  word  Christ  to  his 
Greek  and  Roman  readers  ;  he  would  surely  have  been  a 
great  deal  fuller  and  larger  in  his  accounts  of  Christ,  and  of 
the  Christian  religion  :  nor  would  such  a  declaration  at  that 
time  have  recommended  him,  or  his  nation,  or  his  writings,  to 
either  the  Greeks  or  the  Romans ;  of  his  reputation  with 
both  which  people  he  is  known  to  have  been,  in  the  writing 
of  these  Antiquities,  very  greatly  solicitous. 

(4.)  Josephus’s  usual  way  of  writing  is  historical  and  de¬ 
clarative  of  facts,  and  of  the  opinions,  unless  we  prudently 
gather  it  from  what  he  says  historically,  or  as  the  opinions  of 
others.  This  is  very  observable  in  the  writings  of  Josephus, 
and  in  particular  as  to  what  he  says  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  of  James  the  Just ;  so  that  this  interpretation  is  most 
probable,  as  most  agreeable  to  Josephus’s  way  of  writing 
parallel  cases. 

(5.)  This  seems  to  be  the  universal  sense  of  all  the  an¬ 
cients  without  exception,  who  cite  this  testimony  from  him  ; 
and  though  they  almost  every  where  own  this  to  be  the  true 
reading,  yet  do  they  every  where  suppose  Josephus  to  be 
still  an  unbelieving  Jew,  and  not  a  believing  Christian  ; 
nay,  Jerom  appears  so  well  assured  of  this  interpretation, 
and  that  Josephus  did  not  mean  to  declare  any  more  by 
these  words  than  a  common  opinion,  that,  according  to  his 
usual  way  of  interpreting  authors,  not  to  the  words  but  to 
the  sense,  of  which  we  have,  I  think,  two  more  instances 
in  his  accounts  out  of  Josephus,  now  before  us,  ;  he  renders 
this  clause  credebatur  esse  Christus,  i.  e.  he  was  believed  to 
be  Christ.  Nor  is  the  parallel  expression  of  Pilate  to  be 
otherwise  understood,  when  he  made  that  inscription  upon 
the  cross,  This  is  Jesus  the  king  of  the  Jeios*  ;  which  is 
well  explained  by  himself  elsewhere,  and  corresponds  to  the 
import  of  the  present  clause,  What  shall  I  do  with  Jesus 
who  is  called  Christi  ?  And  we  may  full  as  well  prove 
from  Pilate’s  inscription  upon  the  cross,  that  he  thereby  de¬ 
clared  himself  a  believer  in  Christ  for  the  real  king  of  the 
Jews,  as  we  can  from  these  words  of  Josephus,  that  he  here¬ 
by  declared  himself  to  be  a  real  believer  in  him  as  the  true 
Messiah. 

IV.  Though  Josephus  did  not  design  here  to  declare 


*  Mattb,  xxvii,$7. 


1  Ibid,  xxvii.  17,  22, 


22 


DISSERTATION  I. 


himself  openly  to  be  a  Christian,  yet  could  he  not  possibly  be¬ 
lieve  all  that  he  here  asserts  concerning  Jesus  Christ,  unless 
he  were  so  far  a  Christian  as  the  Jewish  Nazarenes  or  Ebion- 
ites  then  were,  who  believed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  be  the 
true  Messiah,  without  believing  he  was  more  than  a  man  ; 
who  also  believed  the  necessity  of  the  observation  of  the  cer¬ 
emonial  law  of  Moses  in  order  to  salvation  for  all  mankind, 
which  were  the  two  main  articles  of  those  Jewish  Christians5 
faith,  though  in  opposition  to  all  the  thirteen  apostles  of  Je¬ 
sus  Christ  in  the  first  century,  and  in  opposition  to  the  whole 
catholic  church  of  Christ  in  the  following  centuries  also. 
Accordingly,  I  have  elsewhere  proved,  that  Josephus  was 
no  other  in  his  own  conscience,  than  a  Nazarene  or  Ebionite 
Jewish  Christian  ;  and  have  observed  that  this  entire  testi¬ 
mony,  and  all  that  Josephus  says  of  John  the  Baptist,  and 
of  James,  as  well  as  his  absolute  silence  about  all  the  rest  of 
the  apostles  and  their  companions,  exactly  agrees  to  him  un¬ 
der  that  character,  and  no  other.  And  indeed  to  me  it  is 
most  astonishing,  that  all  our  learned  men,  who  have  of  late 
considered  these  testimonies  of  Josephus  except  the  conver¬ 
ted  Jew  Galatinus,  should  miss  such  an  obvious  and  natural 
observation.  We  all  know  this  from  St.  James’s*  own 
words,  that  so  many  ten  thousands  of  Jews  as  believed  in 
Christ ,  in  the  first  century,  iverc  all  zealous  of  the  ceremoni¬ 
al,  law,  or  were  no  other  than  Nazarene  or  Ebionite  Chris¬ 
tians  ;  and,  by  consequence,  if  there  were  any  reason  to 
think  our  Josephus  to  be,  in  any  sense,  a  believer  or  a  Chris¬ 
tian,  as  from  all  these  testimonies  there  were  very  great  ones, 
all  those,  and  many  other  reasons,  could  not  but  conspire  to 
assure  us,  he  was  no  other  than  a  Nazarene  or  Ebionite  Chris¬ 
tian  ;  and  this  I  take  to  be  the  plain  and  evident  key  of  this 
whole  matter. 

V.  Since,  therefore,  Josephus  appears  to  have  been  in 
his  own  heart  and  conscience,  no  other  than  a  Nazarene  or 
Ebionite  Christian,  and,  by  consequence,  with  them  rejected 
all  our  Greek  gospels  and  Greek  books  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment,  and  received  only  the  Hebrew  gospel  of  the  Naza¬ 
renes  or  Ebionites,  styled  by  them,  The  gospel  according  to 
the  Hebrew s  ;  or,  according  to  the  twelve  apostles  ;  or  even, 
according  to  Matthew,  we  ought  always  to  have  that  Naza¬ 
rene  or  Ebionite  gospel,  with  the  other  Nazarene  or  Ebionite 
fragments  in  view,  when  we  consider  any  passages  of  Jose- 


h  Acts  xxi.  20. 


DISSERTATION  I. 


23 


phus  relating  to  Christ,  or  to  Christianity.  Thus,  since  that 
gospel  omitted  all  that  is  in  the  beginning  of  our  St.  Mat¬ 
thew’s  and  St.  Luke’s  gospels,  and  began  with  the  ministry 
of  John  the  Baptist  ;  in  which  first  parts  of  the  gospel  his¬ 
tory  are  the  accounts  of  the  slaughter  of  the  infants,  and  of 
the  inrolment  or  taxation  under  Augustus  Caesar  and  Herod, 
it  is  no  great  wonder  that  Josephus  has  not  taken  care  par¬ 
ticularly  and  clearly  to  preserve  those  histories  to  us.  Thus, 
when  we  find  that  Josephus  calls  James,  the  brother  of 
Christ,  by  the  name  of  James  the  Just,  and  describes  hirn 
as  a  most  just  or  righteous  man,  in  an  especial  manner,  we 
are  to  remember  that  such  is  his  name  and  character  in  the 
gospel  according  to  the  Hebrews,  and  the  other  Ebionitc 
remains  of  Hegesippus,  but  no  where  else,  that  I  remem¬ 
ber,  in  the  earliest  antiquity  :  nor  are  we  to  suppose  they 
herein  referred  to  any  other  than  that  righteousness  which 
was  by  the  Jewish  law,  wherein  St.  Paul,*  before  he  embra¬ 
ced  Christianity,  professed  himself  to  have  been  blameless. 
Thus,  when  Josephus,  with  other  Jews,  ascribed  the  mise¬ 
ries  of  that  nation  under  Vespasian  and  Titus,  which  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  to  the  barbarous  murder  of  James 
the  Just,  we  must  remember,  what  we  learn  from  the  Eb- 
ionite  fragments  of  Hegesippus,  that  these  Ebionites  inter¬ 
preted  a  prophecy  of  Isaiah  as  foretelling  this  very  murder, 
and  those  consequent  miseries  :  Let  ??s  take  away  the  just 
one,  for  he  is  unprofitable  to  us  ;  therefore  shall  they  eat 
the  fruit  of  their  oivn  tvays. t  Thus,  when  Josephus  says, 
as  we  have  seen,  that  the  most  equitable  citizens  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  and  those  that  were  most  zealous  of  the  law,  were  very 
uneasy  at  the  condemnation  of  this  James,  and  some  of  his 
friends  or  fellow-christians,  by  the  high-priest  and  sanhe¬ 
drim,  about  A.  D.  62,  and  declares,  that  he  himself  was  one 
of  those  Jews  who  thought  the  terrible  miseries  of  that  na¬ 
tion  effects  of  the  vengeance  of  God  for  their  murder  of  this 
James,  about  A.  D.  68,  we  may  easily  see  those  opinions 
could  only  be  the  opinions  of  converted  Jews  or  Ebionites. 
The  high-priest  and  sanhedrim,  who  always  prosecuted  the 
Christians,  and  now  condemned  these  Christians,  and  the 
body  of  those  unbelieving  Jews,  who  are  supposed  to  suffer 
for  murdering  this  James,  the  head  of  the  Nazarene  or  Ebi- 
onite  Christians  in  Judea,  could  not,  to  be  sure,  be  of  that 
opinion  ;  nor  could  Josephus  himself  be  of  the  same  opin¬ 
ion,  as  he  declares  he  was,  without  the  strongest  inclination 


*  Philip,  iii.  4 — 6. 


t  Latah  Hi.  10. 


24 


DISSERTATION  I. 


to  the  Christian  religion,  or  without  being  secretly  a  Chris¬ 
tian  Jew,  i.  e.  a  Nazarene  or  Ebionite  ;  which  thing  is,  by 
the  way,  a  very  great  additional  argument  that  such  he  was, 
and  no  other.  Thus,  lastly,  when  Josephus  is  cited  in  Sui- 
das  as  affirming  that  Jesus  officiated  with  the  priests  in  the 
temple,  this  account  is  by  no  means  disagreeable  to  the  pre¬ 
tensions  of  the  Ebionites.  Hegesippus  affirms  the  very  same 
of  James  the  Just  also. 

VI.  I  he  first  citation  of  the  famous  testimony  concerning  our 
Saviour  from  Tacitus,  almost  all  that  was  true  of  the  Jews  is 
directly  taken  by  him  out  of  Josephus,  as  will  be  demonstra¬ 
ted  under  the  third  Dissertation  hereafter. 

VII.  The  second  author  I  have  alleged  for  it  is  Justin 
Martyr,  one  so  nearly  coeval  with  Josephus,  that  he  might 
be  born  about  the  time  when  he  wrote  his  Antiquities,  ap¬ 
peals  to  the  Antiquities  by  that  very  name  ;  and  though 
he  does  not  here  directly  quote  them,  yet  docs  he  seem  to 
me  to  allude  to  this  very  testimony  in  them  concerning  our 
Saviour  when  he  affirms  in  this  place  to  Trypho  the  Jew, 
That  his  nation  originally  knew  that  Jesus  was  risen  from 
the  dead ,  and  ascended  into  heaven ,  as  the  prophecies  did 
foretell  teas  to  happen.  Since  there  neither  now  is,  nor 
probably  in  the  days  of  Justin  was  any  other  Jewish  testi¬ 
mony  extant,  which  is  so  agreeable  to  what  Justin  here  af¬ 
firms  of  those  Jews,  as  is  this  of  Josephus  the  Jew  before 
us ;  nor  indeed  does  he  seem  to  me  to  have  had  any  thing 
else  particularly  in  his  view  here,  but  this  very  testimony, 
where  Josephus  says,  that  Jesus  appeared  to  his  followers 
alive  the  third  day  after  his  crucifixion ,  as  the  divine  pro- 
phets  had  foretold  these  and  ten  thousand  other  wonderful 
things  concerning  him. 

VIII.  The  third  author  I  have  quoted  for  Josephus's 
testimony  of  John  the  Baptist,  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and 
of  James  the  Just,  is  Origen,  who  is  indeed  allowed  on  all 
hands  to  have  quoted  him  for  the  excellent  characters  of 
John  the  Baptist,  and  of  James  the  Just,  but  whose  sup¬ 
posed  entire  silence  about  this  testimony  concerning  Christ 
is  usually  alleged  as  the  principal  argument  against  its  be¬ 
ing  genuine,  and  particularly  as  to  the  clause,  This  was  the 
Christ,  and  t hat,  as  we  have  seen,  because  he  twice  as¬ 
sures  us,  that  in  his  opinion,  Josephus  did  not  himself  ack- 
noiclcdge  Jesus  for  Christ.  Now  as  to  this  latter  clause,  I 
have  already  showed,  that  Josephus  did  not  here,  in  wri¬ 
ting  to  Greeks  and  Romans,  mean  any  such  thing  by  those 


DISSERTATION  I. 


25 


words  as  Jews  and  Christians  naturally  understand  by  them  : 

I  have  also  observed,  that  all  the  ancients  allow  still,  with 
Origin,  that  Josephus  did  not,  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
sense,  acknowledge  Jesus  for  the  true  Messiah,  or  the 
true  Christ  of  God,  notwithstanding  their  express  quota¬ 
tion  of  that  clause  in  Josephus  as  genuine;  so  that  unless 
we  suppose  Origin  to  have  had  a  different  notion  of  these 
words  from  all  the  other  ancients,  we  cannot  conclude 
from  this  assertion  of  Origin's,  that  he  had  not  those  words 
in  his  copy,  not  to  say  that  it  is,  after  all,  much  more  likely 
that  his  copy  a  little  differed  from  the  other  copies  in  this 
clause,  or  indeed  omitted  it  entirely,  than  that  he,  on  its 
account  must  be  supposed  not  to  have  had  the  rest  of  this 
testimony  therein,  though  indeed  I  see  no  necessity  of  mak¬ 
ing  any  such  supposal  at  all.  However,  it  seems  to  me, 
that  Origin  affords  us  four  several  indications  that  the  main 
parts  at  least  of  this  testimony  itself  were  in  his  copy. 

(l.)  When  Origin  introduces  Josephus’s  testimony  con¬ 
cerning  James  the  Just,  that  lie  thought  the  miseries  of  the 
Jews  were  an  instance  of  divine  vengeance  on  that  nation 
for  putting  James  to  death  instead  of  Jesus,  he  uses  an  ex¬ 
pression  no  way  necessary  to  this  purpose,  nor  occasioned 
by  any  words  of  Josephus  there,  that  they  had  slain  that 
Christ  which  tons  foretold  in  the  prophecies.  Whence 
could  this  expression  come  here  into  Origin’s  mind,  when 
he  was  quoting  a  testimony  of  Josephus’s  concerning  the 
brother  of  Christ,  but  from  his  remembrance  of  a  clause  in 
the  testimony  of  the  same  Josephus  concerning  Christ  him¬ 
self,  that  the  prophets  had  for  told  his  death  and  resur¬ 
rection,  and  ten  thousand  other  wonderful  things  concern¬ 
ing  him? 

(2.)  How  came  Origin  to  be  so  surprised  at  Josephus’s 
ascribing  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  to  the  Jews  murder¬ 
ing  of  James  the  Just,  and  not  to  their  murdering  of  Jesus, 
as  we  have  seen  he  was,  if  he  had  not  known  that  Josephus 
had  spoken  of  Jesus  and  his  death  before,  and  that  he  had 
a  very  good  opinion  of  Jesus,  which  }ret  he  could  learn  no 
way  so  authentically  as  from  this  testimony?  Nor  do  the 
words  he  here  uses,  that  Josephus  was  not  remote  from  the 
truth,  perhaps  allude  to  any  thing  else  but  to  this  very  testi¬ 
mony  before  us. 

(3.)  How  came  the  same  Origin  upon  another  slight  oc¬ 
casion,  when  he  had  just  set  down  that  testimony  of  Josephus 
concerning  James  the  Just,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  who  was 
VOL  r.  C 


DISSERTATION  I. 


26 

called  Christ ,  to  say,  that  it  may  he  questioned  whether  the 
Jews  thought  Jesus  to  be  a  man ,  or  whether  they  did  not  sup¬ 
pose  him  to  be  a  being  of  a  diviner  kind?  This  looks  so 
very  like  to  the  fifth  and  sixth  clauses  of  this  testimony  in 
Josephus,  that  Jesus  was  a  wise  man ,  if  it  be  lawful  to  call 
him  a  man ,  that  it  is  highly  probable  Origin  thereby  al¬ 
luded  to  them:  and  this  is  the  more  to  be  depended  on,  be¬ 
cause  all  the  unbelieving  Jews,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  Na- 
zarene  Jews,  esteemed  Jesus  with  one  consent,  as  a  mere 
man ,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary;  and  it  is  not,  I  think, 
possible  to  produce  any  one  Jew  but  Josephus,  who  in  a 
sort  of  compliance  with  the  Romans  and  the  catholic  Chris¬ 
tians,  who  thought  him  a  God,  would  say  any  thing  like  his 
being  a  God. 

(4.)  How  came  Origin  to  affirm  twice,  so  expressly,  that 
Josephus  did  not  himself  own,  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian 
sense  that  Jesus  was  Christ,  notwithstanding  his  quotations 
of  such  eminent  testimonies  out  of  him  for  John  the  Baptist 
his  forerunner,  and  for  James  the  Just  his  brother,  and  one 
of  his  principal  disciples  ?  There  is  no  passage  in  all  Jo¬ 
sephus  so  likely  to  persuade  Origin  of  this  as  is  the  famous 
testimony  before  us,  wherein,  as  he  and  all  other  ancients 
understood  it,  he  was  generally  called  Christ  indeed,,  but 
not  any  otherwise  than  as  the  common  name  whence  the 
sect  of  Christians  was  derived,  and  where  he  all  along  speaks 
of  those  Christians  as  a  sect  then  in  being,  whose  author  was 
a  wonderful  person,  and  his  followers  great  lovers  of  him,  and 
of  the  truth,  yet  as  such  a  sect  as  he  had  not  joined  himself 
to:  which  exposition,  as  it  is  a  very  natural  one,  so  was  it,  I 
doubt,  but  too  true  of  our  Josephus  at  that  time  ;  nor  can  I 
devise  any  other  reason  but  this,  and  the  parallel  language 
of  Josephus  elsewhere,  when  he  speaks  of  James  as  the 
brother  not  of  Jesus  who  was  Christ,  but  of  Jesus  who  was 
called  Christ,  that  could  so  naturally  induce  Origin  and 
others  to  be  of  that  opinion. 

IX.  There  are  two  remarkable  passages  in  Suidas  and 
Theophylact,  already  set  down,  as  citing  Josephus;  the 
former,  that  Jesus  officiated  with  the  priests  in  the  temple, 
and  the  latter,  that  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  miseries 
of  the  Jews,  were  owing  to  their  putting  Jesus  to  death , 
which  are  in  none  of  our  present  copies,  nor  cited  thence 
by  any  ancienter  authors,  nor  indeed  do  they  seem  alto¬ 
gether  consistent  with  other  more  authentic  testimonies : 
however,  since  Suidas  cites  his  passage  from  a  treatise  of 


DISSERTATION  I. 


27 


Josephus’s,  called  Memoirs  of  the  Jews’  captivity ,  a  book 
never  heard  of  elsewhere,  and  since  both  citations  are  not  at 
all  disagreeable  to  Josephus’s  character  as  a  Nazarene  or 
Ebionite,  I  dare  not  positively  conclude  they  are  spurious, 
but  must  leave  them  in  suspence  for  the  farther  consideration 
of  the  learned. 

X.  As  to  that  great  critic  Photius,  in  the  ninth  century, 
who  is  supposed  not  to  have  had  this  testimony  in  his  copy 
of  Josephus,  or  else  to  have  esteemed  it  spurious,  because 
in  his  extracts  out  of  Josephus’s.  Antiquities  it  is  not  expressly 
mentioned.  This  is  a  strange  thing  indeed  !  that  a  section 
which  had  been  cited  out  of  Josephus’s  copies  all  along  before 
the  days  of  Photius,  as  well  as  it  has  been  all  along  cited  out 
of  them  since  his  days,  should  be  supposed  not  to  be  in  his 
copy,  because  he  does  not  directly  mention  it  in  certain  short 
and  imperfect  extracts,  no  way  particularly  relating  to  such 
matters.  Those  who  lay  a  stress  on  this  silence  of  Photius, 
seem  little  to  have  attended  to  the  nature  and  brevity  of  those 
extracts.  They  contain  little  or  nothing,  as  he  in  effect  pro¬ 
fesses  at  their  entrance,  but  what  concerns  Antipater,  Herod 
the  great,  and  his  brethren,  and  family,  with  their  exploits, 
till  the  days  of  Agrippa,j>’w».  and  Cumanes,  the  governor  of 
Judea,  fifteen  years  after  the  death  of  our  Saviour,  without 
one  word  of  Pilate,  or  what  happened  under  his  government, 
which  yet  was  the  only  proper  place  in  which  this  testimony 
could  come  to  be  mentioned.  However,  since  Photius  seems 
therefore,  as  we  have  seen,  to  suspect  the  treatise  ascribed 
by  some  to  Josephus,  of  the  Universe,  because  it  speaks  very 
high  things  of  the  eternal  generation  and  divinity  of  Christ, 
this  looks  very  like  his  knowledge  and  belief  of  somewhat 
really  in  the  same  Josephus,  which  spake  in  a  lower  manner 
of  him,  which  could  be  hardly  any  other  passage  than  this 
testimony  before  us.  And  since,  as  we  have  seen,  when  he 
speaks  of  the  Jewish  history  of  Justus  of  Tiberias,  as  infected 
with  the  prejudices  of  the  Jews,  in  taking  no  manner  of  no¬ 
tice  of  the  advent,  of  the  acts,  and  of  the  miracles  of  Jesus 
Christ,  while  yet  he  never  speaks  so  of  Josephus  himself,  this 
most  naturally  implies  also,  that  there  was  not  the  like  occa¬ 
sion  here  as  there,  but  that  Josephus  had  not  wholly  omitted 
that  advent,  those  acts,  or  miracles,  which  yet  he  has  do.ne 
every  where  else,  in  the  books  seen  by  Photius,  as  well  as 
Justus  of  Tiberias,  but  in  this  famous  testimony  before  us,  so 
that  it  it  is  most  probable  Photius  not  only  had  this  testimony 
in  his  copy,  but  believed  it  to  be  genuine  also. 


28 


DISSERTATION  I. 


XI.  As  to  the  silence  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  cites 
the  Antiquities  of  Josephus,  but  never  cites  any  of  the  testi¬ 
monies  now  before  us,  it  is  no  strange  thing  at  all,  since  he 
never  cites  Josephus  but  once,  and  that  for  a  point  of  chro¬ 
nology  onl3r,  to  determine  how  many  years  had  passed  from 
the  days  of  Moses  to  the  days  of  Josephus,  so  that  his  silence 
snay  almost  as  well  be  alleged  against  an  hundred  other 
remarkable  passages  in  Josephus’s  works  as  against  these 
before  us. 

XII.  Nor  does  the  like  silence  of  Tertullian  imply  that 
these  testimonies,  nor  any  of  them,  were  not  in  the  copies 
of  his  age.  Tertullian  never  once  hints  at  any  treatises  of 
Josephus’s  but  those  against  Apion,  and  that  in  general  only, 
for  a  point  of  chronology :  nor  does  it  in  any  way  appear 
that  Tertullian  ever  saw  any  of  Josephus’s  writings  besides, 
and  far  from  being  certain  that  he  saw  even  those.  He  had 
particular  occasion  in  his  dispute  against  the  Jews  to  quote 
Josephus,  above  any  other  writer,  to  prove  the  completion 
of  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  and  miseries  of  the  Jews  at  that  time,  of  which 
he  there  discourses,  yet  does  he  never  once  quote  him  upon 
that  solemn  occasion ;  so  that  it  seems  to  me,  that  Tertullian 
never  read  either  the  Greek  Antiquities  of  Josephus,  or  his 
Greek  books  of  the  Jewish  wars  ;  nor  is  this  at  all  strange  in 
Tertullian,  a  Latin  writer,  that  lived  in  Africa,  by  none  of 
which  African  writers  is  there  any  one  clause,  that  I  know  of, 
cited  out  of  any  of  Josephus’s  writings:  nor  is  it  worth  my 
while,  in  such  numbers  of  positive  citations  of  these  clauses, 
to  mention  the  silence  of  other  later  writers,  as  being  here  of 
very  small  consequence. 


DISSERTATION  II. 


Concerning  God’s  command  to  Abraham  to  offer  up  Isaac 
his  son  for  a  sacrifice. 

Since  this  command  of  God  to  Abraham* * * §  has  of  late  been 
greatly  mistaken  by  some,  who  venture  to  reason  about  very 
ancient  facts  from  very  modern  notions,  and  this  without  a 
due  regard  to  either  the  customs,  or  opinions,  or  circumstances 
of  the  times  whereto  those  facts  belong,  or  indeed  to  the  true 
reasons  of  the  facts  themselves ;  since  the  mistakes  about 
those  customs,  opinions,  circumstances,  and  reasons,  have  of 
late  so  far  prevailed,  that  the  very  same  actions  of  Abraham’s, 
which  was  so  celebrated  by  St.  Paul,f  St.  James, £  the  author 
to  the  Hebrews, §  Philo, ||  and  Josephus, ^  in  the  first  century, 
and  by  innumerable  others  since,  as  an  uncommon  instance 
of  signal  virtue,  of  heroic  faith  in  God,  and  piety  towards 
him :  nay,  is  in  the  sacred  **history  highly  commended  by 
the  divine  angel  of  the  covenant ,  in  the  name  of  God  himself, 
and  promised  to  be  plentifully  rewarded  ;  since  this  command, 
I  say,  is  now  at  last  in  the  eighteenth  century  become  a  stone 
of  stumbling,  and  a  rock  of  offence  among  us,  and  that  some¬ 
times  to  persons  of  otherwise  good  sense,  and  of  a  religious 
disposition  of  mind  also,  I  shall  endeavour  to  set  this  mat¬ 
ter  in  its  true,  i.  e.  in  its  ancient  and  original  light,  for  the 
satisfaction  of  the  inquisitive.  In  order  whereto  we  are  to 
consider  : 

1 .  That  till  this  very  profane  age,  it  has  been,  I  think, 
universally  allowed  by  all  sober  persons,  who  owned  them¬ 
selves  the  creatures  of  God,  that  the  Creator  has  a  just  right 
over  all  his  rational  creatures,  to  protract  their  lives  to 


*  Gen.  xxii. 

t  Rom.  iv  16 — 25. 

t  James  ii.  21,  22. 

§  Heb.  xi.  17 — 19 


|j  Phil,  de  Gyant.  p.  294 
IT  Jos.  Antif],  B.  i.  eh.  xiii 
**  Gen-  xx ii.  15 — 18. 


C  2 


so 


DISSERTATION  II. 


what  length  he  pleases ;  to  cut  them  off  when  and  by  what 
instruments  he  pleases ;  to  afflict  them  with  what  sicknesses 
he  pleases;  and  to  remove  them  from  one  estate  or  place  in 
this  his  great  palace  of  the  universe  to  another  as  he  plea¬ 
ses  ;  and  that  all  those  rational  creatures  are  bound  in  duty 
and  interest  to  acquiesce  under  the  divine  disposal,  and  to 
resign  themselves  up  to  the  good  providence  of  God  in  all 
such  his  dispensations  towards  them.  1  do  not  mean  to  in¬ 
timate  that  God  may,  or  ever  does  act  in  these  cases  after  a 
mere  arbitrary  manner,  or  without  sufficient  reason,  believ¬ 
ing,  according  to  the  whole  tenor  of  natural  and  revealed  re¬ 
ligion,  that  he  hateth  nothing  that  he  hath  made;*  that  what¬ 
soever  he  does,  how  melancholy  soever  it  may  appear  at 
first  sight  to  us,  is  really  intended  for  the  good  of  his  crea¬ 
tures,  and  at  the  upshot  of  things,  will  fully  appear  so  to  be ; 
but  that  still  he  is  not  obliged,  nor  does  in  general  give  his 
creatures  an  account  of  the  particular  reasons  of  such  his  dis¬ 
pensations  towards  them  immediately,  but  usually  tries  and 
exercises  their  faith  and  patience,  their  resignation  and  obe¬ 
dience,  in  their  present  state  of  probation,  and  reserves  those 
reasons  to  the  last  day,  the  day  of  the  revelation  of  the  righte¬ 
ous  judgment  of  God.  t 

2.  That  the  entire  histories  of  the  past  ages,  from  the 
days  of  Adam  till  now,  show’,  .that  Almighty  God  has  ever 
exercised  his  power  over  mankind,  and  that  without  giving 
them  an  immediate  account  of  the  reasons  of  such  his  con¬ 
duct  ;  and  that  withal  the  best  and  wisest  men  in  all  ages, 
heathens  as  well  as  Jews  and  Christians,  Marcus  Antoninus 
as  well  as  the  patriarch  Abraham  and  St.  Paul,  have  ever 
humbly  submitted  themselves  to  this  conduct  of  the  divine 
providence,  and  always  confessed  that  they  were  obliged  to 
the  undeserved  goodness  and  mercy  of  God  for  every  enjoy¬ 
ment,  but  could  not  demand  any  of  them  of  his  justice,  no. 
not  so  much  as  the  continuance  of  that  life  wheieto  those 
enjoyments  appertain.  When  God  was  pleased  to  sweep 
the  wicked  race  of  men  away  by  a  flood,  the  young  inno¬ 
cent  infants  as  well  as  the  guilty  old  sinners:  when  he  was 
pleased  to  shorten  the  lives  of  men  after  the  flood,  and  still 
downward  till  the  days  of  David  and  Solomon;  when  he 
was  pleased  to  destroy  impure  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  by  fire 
and  brimstone  from  heaven,  and  to  extirpate  the  main  body 
of  the  Amorites  out  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  as  soon  as  their 


\ 


*  Wftd.  si-  21. 


t  Rom.  n.  5. 


DISSERTATION  II. 


31 


iniquities  were  full*  and  in  these  instances  included  the 
young  innocent  infants,  together  with  the  old  hardened  sin¬ 
ners  ;  when  God  was  pleased  to  send  an  angel,  and  by  him  to 
destroy  185,000  Assyrians,  (the  number  attested  to  by  Be- 
rous  the  Chaldean,  as  well  as  by  our  own  Bibles,)  in  the 
days  of  Hezekiah,  most  of  whom  seem  to  have  no  other  pe¬ 
culiar  guilt  upon  them  than  that  common  to  soldiers  in  w  ar,  of 
obeying  without  reserve,  their  king  Sennacherib,  his  gene¬ 
rals  and  captains;  and  when  at  the  plague  of  Athens,  Lon¬ 
don,  or  Marseilles,  &c.  so  many  thousand  righteous  men  and 
women,  with  innocent  babes,  were  swept  away  on  a  sudden 
by  a  fatal  contagion,  I  do  not  remember  that  sober  men  have 
complained  that  God  dealt  unjustly  with  such  his  creatures,  in 
those  to  us  seemingly  severe  dispensations:  nor  are  we 
certain  when  any  such  seemingly  severe  dispensations  are 
really  such,  nor  do  we  know  but  shortening  the  lives  of  men 
may  sometimes  be  the  greatest  blessing  to  them,  and  prevent 
or  put  a  stop  to  those  courses  of  gross  wickedness  which 
might  bring  them  to  greater  misery  in  the  world  to  come : 
nor  is  it  indeed  fit  for  such  poor,  weak,  and  ignorant  crea¬ 
tures  as  we  are,  in  the  present  state,  to  call  our  Almight}', 
and  All-wise,  and  All-good  Creator  and  Benefactor,  to  an 
account  on  any  such  occasion;  since  we  cannot  but  acknow¬ 
ledge,  that  it  is  he  that  hath  made  us,  and  not  we  ourselves  ;f 
that  we  are  nothing,  and  have  nothing  of  ourselves,  indepen¬ 
dent  on  him,  but  that  all  we  are,  all  we  have,  and  all  we  hope 
for,  is  derived  from  him,  from  his  free  and  undeserved  boun¬ 
ty,  which  therefore,  he  may  justly  take  from  us  in  what  way 
soever  and  whensoever  he  pleases;  all  wise  and  good  men 
still  say  in  such  cases  with  the  pious  Psalmist,  xxxix.  9.  1 

was  dumb,  I  opened  not  my  mouth,  because  thou  didst  it; 
and  with  patient  Job,  i.  21.  ii.  40.  Shall  we  receive  good  at 
the  hand  of  God,  and  shall  not  we  receive  evil?  The  hard 
gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  blessed  be  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  If  therefore  this  shortening  or  taking  away  the 
lives  of  men  be  no  objection  against  any  divine  command  for 
that  purpose,  it  is  full  as  strong  against  the  present  system  of 
the  world,  against  the  conduct  of  divine  providence  in  general, 
and  against  natural  religion,  which  is  founded  on  the  justice 
of  that  providence,  and  is  no  way  peculiar  to  revealed  religion  , 
or  to  the  fact  of  Abraham  now  before  us  :  nor  in  this  case 
much  different  from  what  was  soon  after  the  days  of  Abra¬ 
ham  thoroughly  settled,  after  Job’s  and  his  friends  debates, 


*  Gen.  xv.  16. 


f  Psalm  c.  3. 


32 


DISSERTATION  II. 


by  the  inspiration  of  Alihu,  and  the  determination  of  God 
himself,  where  the  divine  providence  was  at  length  tho¬ 
roughly  cleared  and  justified  before  all  the  world,  as  it  will 
be,  no  question,  more  generally  cleared  and  justified  at  the 
final  judgment. 

3.  That  till  this  profane  age,  it  has  also,  I  think,  been 
universally  allowed  by  all  sober  men,  that  a  command  of 
God,  when  sufficiently  made  known  to  be  so,  is  abundant 
authority  for  the  taking  away  the  life  of  any  person  whom¬ 
soever.  I  doubt  both  ancient  and  modern  princes,  gene¬ 
rals  of  armies,  and  judges,  even  those  of  the  best  reputation 
also,  have  ventured  to  take  many  men’s  lives  away  upon 
much  less  authority:  nor  indeed  do  the  most  skeptical  of 
the  moderns  care  to  deny  this  authority  directly  ;  they  ra¬ 
ther  take  a  method  of  objecting  somewhat  more  plausible, 
though  it  amount  to  much  the  same  :  they  say,  that  the  ap¬ 
parent  disagreement  of  any  command  to  the  moral  attri¬ 
butes  of  God,  such  as  this  of  the  slaughter  of  an  only  child 
seems  plainly  to  be,  will  be  a  greater  evidence  that  such  a 
command  does  not  come  from  God,  than  any  pretended  re¬ 
velation  can  be  that  it  does.  But  as  to  this  matter,  though 
the  divine  revelations  have  so  long  ceased,  that  we  are  not 
well  acquainted  with  the  manner  of  conveying  such  revela¬ 
tion  with  certainty  to  men,  and  by  consequence,  the  appa¬ 
rent  disagreement  of  a  command  with  the  moral  attributes 
of  God,  ought  at  present,  generally,  if  not  constantly,  to  de¬ 
ter  men  from  acting  upon  such  a  pretended  revelation,  yet 
was  there  no  such  uncertainty  in  the  days  of  the  old  prophets 
of  God,  or  of  Abraham,  the  friend  of  God*  who  are  ever 
found  to  have  had  an  entire  certainty  of  those  their  revela¬ 
tions  :  and  what  evidently  shows  they  were  not  deceived, 
is  this,  that  the  events  and  consequences  of  things  afterward 
always  corresponded,  and  secured  them  of  the  truth  of  such 
divine  l'evelations.  Thus  the  first  miraculous  voice  from 
heaven, +  calling  to  Abraham  not  to  execute  this  command, 
and  the  performance  of  those  eminent  promises  made  by  the 
second  voice, \  on  account  of  his  obedience  to  that  command, 
are  demonstrations  that  Abraham’s  commission  for  what  he 
did  was  truly  divine,  and  an  entire  justification  of  his  conduct 
in  this  matter.  The  words  of  the  first  voice  from  heaven 
will  come  hereafter  to  be  set  down  in  a  fitter  place,  but  the 
glorious  promises  made  to  Abraham’s  obedience  by  the  se¬ 
cond  voice,  must  here  be  produced  from  verse  15,  if),  17, 


*  Isaiah  sli.  8. 


t  Gen.  xxii.  11, 12. 


IGen.xxii  17,18. 


DISSERTATION  II. 


33 


1 8.  And  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  called  unto  Abraham  out  of 
heaven  the  second  time ,  and  said,  By  myself  have  I  sivorn , 
saith  the  Lord,  for  because  thou  hast  clone  this  thing,  and  hast 
not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son  from  me,  that  in  blsssing 
I  will  bless  thee,  and  in  multiply  ing  1  will  multiply  thy  seed 
as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  as  the  sand  which  is  upon  the  sea¬ 
shore  ;  and  thy  seed  shall  possess  the  gate  of  his  enemies : 
and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed , 
because  thou  hast  obeyed  my  voice.  Every  one  of  which 
promises  have  been  eminently  fulfilled  ;  and,  what  is  chiefly 
remarkable, the  last  and  principal  of  them,  that  in  Abiaham’s 
seed  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed,  was  never 
promised  till  this  time.  It  had  been  twice  promised  him, 
chap.  xii.  ver.  3,  and  xviii.  18,  that  in  himself  should  all  the 
families  of  the  earth  be  blessed  ;  but  that  this  blessing  was 
to  belong  to  future  times,  and  to  be  bestowed  by  the  means  of 
one  of  his  late  posterity,  the  Messias,  that  great  seed  and 
son  of  Abraham  only,  was  never  revealed  before,  but  on 
such  an  amazing  instance  of  his  faith  and  obedience  as  was 
this  his  readiness  to  offer  up  his  only  begotten  son  Isaac, 
was  now  first  promised,  and  has  been  long  ago  performed, 
in  the  birth  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  David,  the  son 
of  Abraham ,*  which  highly  deserves  our  observation  in 
this  place:  nor  can  we  suppose  that  anything  else  than 
clear  conviction  that  this  command  came  from- God,  could 
induce  so  good  a  man,  and  so  tender  a  lather  as  Abraham 
was,  to  sacrifice  his  own  beloved  son,  and  to  lose  thereby 
all  the  comfort  he  received  from  him  at  present,  and  all  the 
expectation  he  had  of  a  numerous  and  happy  posterity  from 
him  hereafter. 

4.  That  long  before  the  days  of  Abraham,  the  daemons  or 
heathen  gods  had  required  and  received  human  sacrifices, 
and  particularly  that  of  the  offerer’s  own  children,  and  this 
both  before  and  after  the  deluge.  This  practice  had  been 
indeed  so  long  left  off  in  Egypt,  and  the  custom  of  sacrificing 
animals  there  was  confined  to  so  few  kinds  in  the  days  of 
Herodotus,  that  he  would  not  believe  they  had  ever  offered 
human  sacrifices  at  all :  for  he  says,t  That  the  fable,  u  as  if 
Hercules  was  sacrificed  to  Jupiter  in  Egypt,  was  feigned  by 
the  Greeks,  who  were  entirely  unacquainted  with  the  na¬ 
ture  of  the  Egyptians  and  their  law’s;  for  how  should  they 
sacrifice  men  with  whom  it  is  unlawful  to  sacrifice  any  brute 
beast  ?  (boars,  and  bulls,  and  pure  calves,  and  ganders,  only 


*  Matth.  i.  1, 


t  Ap.  Marsh.  Chron.  p.  303. 


34 


DISSERTATION  II. 


excepted.”)  However,  it  is  evident  from  Sanchoniatho. 
Manetho,  Pausanias,  Diodorus  Siculus,  Philo,  Plutarch,  and 
Porphyry,  that  such  sacrifices  were  frequent  both  in  Phoeni¬ 
cia  and  Egypt,  and  that  long  before  the  days  of  Abraham,  as 
Sir  John  Marsham  and  Bishop  Cumberland  have  fully  proved  : 
nay,  that  in  other  places,  (though  not  in  Egypt,)  this  cruel 
practice  continued  long  after  Abraham,  and  this  till  the  very 
third,  if  not  also  to  the  fifth  century  of  Christianity,  before  it 
was  quite  abolished.  Take  the  rvordsof  the  original  authors 
in  English,  as  most  of  them  occur  in  their  originals  in  Sir 
John  Marsham’s  Chronicon,  p.  76 — 78,  300 — 304. 

“  Cronus,* * * §  offered  up  his  only  begotten  son,  as  a  burnt- 
offering,  to  his  father  Ouranus,  when  there  was  a  famine  and 
a  pestilence.” 

“  tCronus,  whom  the  Phoenicians  name  Israel ,  [it  should 
be  I/,]  and  who  was  after  his  death  consecrated  into  the  star 
Saturn,  when  he  was  king  of  the  country,  and  had  by  a  nymph 
of  that  country,  named  Anobrct ,  an  only  begotten  son,  whom, 
on  that  account,  they  called  Jeud,  [the  Phoenicians  to  this  day 
calling  an  only  begotten  son,  by  that  name,)  he  in  his  dread 
of  very  great  dangers  that  lay  upon  the  country  from  war, 
adorned  his  son  with  royal  apparel,  and  built  an  altar,  and 
offered  him  in  sacrifice.” 

“  The  ^Phoenicians,  when  they  were  in  great  dangers  by 
war,  by  famine,  or  by  pestilence,  sacrificed  to  Saturn,  one 
of  the  dearest  of  their  people,  whom  they  chose  by  public 
suffrage  for  that  purpose  :  and  Sanchoniatho’s  Phoenician 
history  is  full  of  such  sacrifices.  [These  hitherto  I  take  to 
have  been  before  the  flood.”] 

In  Arabia,  the  Dumatii  sacrificed  a  child  every  year.”§ 

“||They  relate,  that  of  old,  the  [Egyptian]  kings  sacri¬ 
ficed  such  men  as  were  of  the  same  colour  with  Typho,  at 
the  sepulchre  of  Osiris.” 

“^[Manetho  relates,  that  they  burnt  Typhonean  men  alive 
in  the  city  Idithyia,  [or  Ilithya,]  and  scattered  their  ashes  like 
chaff  that  is  winnowed  ;  and  this  was  done  publicly,  and  at  a 
set  season,  in  the  dog-days.” 

a  **The  barbarous  nations  did  a  long  time  admit  of  the 
slaughter  of  children,  as  of  an  holy  practice,  and  acceptable 


*  Philo.  Bib.  ex  Sanchon.  p.  76.  ||  Diod.  p.  78. 

t  Ibid.  p.  77.  IT  Plutarch,  p  78. 

X  Porphyry,  p.  77.  **  Nonnulliap.  Philon.  p.  17. 

§  Porphyry,  p.  77, 


DISSERTATION  II. 


to  the  gods. — And  this  thing  both  private  persons,  and  kings, 
and  entire  nations,  practice  at  proper  seasons.” 

u  *The  human  sacrifices  that  were  enjoined  by  the  Do- 
donean  oracle,  mentioned  in  Pausanias’s  Achaics,  in  the 
tragical  story  of  Croesus  and  Callirrhoe,  sufficiently  intimate 
that  the  Phoenician  and  Egyptian  priests  had  set  up  this  Do- 
donean  oracle  before  the  time  of  Amosis,  who  destroyed  that 
barbarous  practice  in  Egypt.” 

- Isque  adylis  hoec  tristia  dicta  reporlat, 

Sanguine  placaslis  ventos,  et  virgine  catsa, 

Cum  primum  iKacas  Danaivenistis  ad  or  as  ; 

Sanguine  quatrendi  reditus,  animaque  litandum 
Jirgolica\. 

- He  fro the  gods  this  dreadful  answer  brought, 

O  Grecians,  when  the  Trojan  shores  you  sought, 

Your  passage  with  a  virgin’s  blood  wa3  bought; 

So  must  your  safe  return  be  bought  again, 

And  Grecian  blood  once  more  atone  the  main. 

Dryden. 

These  bloody  sacrifices  were,  for  certain,  instances  of  the 
greatest  degree  of  impiety,  tyranny,  and  cruelty,  in  the 
world,  that  either  wicked  dsemons,  or  wicked  men,  who 
neither  made,  nor  preserved  mankind,  who  had  therefore 
no  right  over  them,  nor  were  they  able  to  make  them  a- 
rnends  in  the  next  world  for  what  they  thus  lost  or  suffered 
in  this,  should,  after  so  inhuman  a  manner,  command  the 
taking  away  the  lives  of  men,  and  particularly  of  the  offerer’s 
own  children,  without  the  commission  of  any  crime.  This 
was,  I  think,  an  abomination  derived  from  him  who  was  a 
\murderer  from  the  beginning ;  a  crime  truly  and  properly 
diabolical. 

5.  That,  accordingly,  Almighty  God  himself,  under  the 
Jewish  dispensation,  vehemently  condemned  the  Pagans, 
and  sometimes  the  Jews  themselves  for  this  crime ;  and  for 
this,  among  other  heinous  sins,  cast  the  idolatrous  nations 
(nay,  sometimes  the  Jews  too,)  out  of  Palestine.  Take  the 
principal  texts  hereto  relating,  as  they  lie  in  order  in  the  Old 
Testament. 

"  “§Thou  shalt  not  let  any  of  thy  seed  pass  through  the 
fire  to  Molech. — Defile  not  yourselves  in  any  of  these  things, 
for  in  all  these  the  nations  are  defiled,  which  I  cast  out  be¬ 
fore  you,”  &c. 


*  Cumber].  Sacbon  p.  378.  f  John  viii.  41. 

t  Virg.  iEneid.  B.  ii.  ver.  115-  §  Lev.  xviii.  21,  24. 


36  DISSERTATION  II. 

a  ^Whosoever  he  be  of  the  children  of  Israel,  or  of  the 
strangers  that  sojourn  in  Israel,  that  giveth  any  of  his  seed 
unto  Molech,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death :  the  people  of 
the  land  shall  stone  him  with  stones.” 

“  tTake  heed  to  thyself,  that  thou  be  no*  snared  by£  fol¬ 
lowing  the  nations,  after  that  they  be  destroyed  from  before 
thee ;  and  that  thou  inquire  not  after  their  gods,  saying, 
How  did  these  nations  serve  their  gods  ?  even  so  will  Ido 
likewise.  Thou  shalt  not  do  so  unto  the  Lord  thy  God;  for 
every  abomination  of  the  Lord,  which  he  hateth,  have  they 
done  unto  their  gods;  for  even  their  sons  and  their  daughters 
have  they  burnt  in  the  fire  to  their  gods.”  See  chap,  xviii. 
10.  2  Kings  xvii.  17* 

“  JAnd  Ahaz  made  his  son  to  pass  through  the  fire,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  abominations  of  the  heathen,  whom  the  Lord 
cast  out  from  before  the  children  of  Israel.” 

il  ^Moreover,  Ahaz  burnt  incence  in  the  valley  of  the  son 
of  Hinnom,  and  burnt  his  children  [his  son  in  Josephus]  in 
the  fire,  after  the  abominations  of  the  heathen,  whom  the 
Lord  had  cast  out  before  the  children  of  Israel.” 

“  1 1 A n d  the  Sepharvites  burnt  their  children  in  the  fire 
to  Adrammelech  and  Anammelech,  the  gods  of  Sephar- 
vaim,”  &c. 

“ffAnd  Josiah  defiled  Topheth,  which  is  in  the  valley  of 
the  children  of  Ilinnom,  that  no  man  might  make  his  son  or 
his  daughter  to  pass  through  the  fire  to  Molech.” 

«*#Yea  they  sacrificed  their  sons  and  their  daughters 
unto  daemons;  and  shed  innocent  blood,  the  blood  of  their 
sons  and  of  their  daughters,  whom  they  sacrificed  unto  the 
idols  of  Canaan,  and  the  land  was  polluted  with  blood.”  See 
Isaiah  lvii.  5. 

“ttThe  children  of  Judah  have  done  evil  in  my  sight, 
saith  the  Lord ;  they  have  set  their  abominations  in  the 
house  which  is  called  by  my  name,  to  pollute  it:  and  they 
have  built  the  high  places  of  Topheth,  which  is  in  the  val¬ 
ley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom,  to  burn  their  sons  and  their  daugh¬ 
ters  in  the  fire,  which  I  commanded  them  not,  nor  came  it 
into  my  heart.” 

u  $$Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  be- 


16  Lev.  xs.  2 
t  Deut.  xii.30.31. 

}  2  Kings  xvi.  3. 

§  2  Chron.  xxviii.  3. 
il  2  Kings  xvii.  31, 


IT  2  Kings  xxiii.  lO 
**  Psalm  xvi.  37,  88. 
it  Jer.  vii. 30 — 32. 
it  Jer.  xix.  3—5 


DISSERTATION  II. 


3  7 


hold  I  will  bring  evil  upon  this  place,  the  which  whosoever 
heareth  his  ears  shall  tingle,  because  they  have  forsaken 
me,  and  have  estranged  this  place,  and  have  burnt  incense 
unto  other  gods,  whom  neither  they  nor  their  fathers  have 
known,  nor  the  kings  of  Judah,  and  have  filled  this  place 
with  the  blood  of  innocents.  They  have  built  also  the  high 
places  of  Baal,  to  burn  their  sons  with  fire  for  burnt-offerings 
unto  Baal,  which  I  commanded  not,  nor  spake  it,  neither  came 
it  into  my  mind,”  &c. 

“  *They  built  the  high  places  of  Baal,  which  are  in  the 
valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom,  to  cause  their  sons  and  their 
daughters  to  pass  through  the  fire  unto  Molech,  which  I  com¬ 
manded  them  not,  neither  came  it  into  my  mind  that  they 
should  do  this  abomination,  to  cause  Judah  to  sin.”  w 

“  tMoreover,  thou  hast  taken  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters, 
whom  thou  hast  borne  unto  me,  and  these  hast  thou  sacrificed 
unto  them  to  be  devoured.  Is  this  of  thy  whoredoms  a  small 
matter,  that  thou  hast  slain  my  children,  and  delivered  them 
to  cause  them  to  pass  through  the  fire  for  them  ?”  See  ch. 
xx.  26.  1  Cor.  x.  20. 

“  ^Thou  hateclst  the  old  inhabitants  of  thy  holy  land,  for 
doing  most  odious  works  of  witchcraft,  and  wicked  sacrifi¬ 
ces  ;  and  also  those  merciless  murderers  of  children,  and 
devourers  of  man's  flesh,  and  feasts  of  blood,  with  their 
priests,  out  of  the  midst  of  their  idolatrous  crew,  and  the 
parents  that  killed  with  their  own  hands  souls  destitute  of 
help.” 

6.  That  Almighty  God  never  permitted,  in  any  one  in¬ 
stance,  that  such  a  human  sacrifice  should  actually  be  offer¬ 
ed  to  himself,  (though  he  had  a  right  to  have  required  it,  if 
he  had  so  pleased,)  under  the  whole  Jewish  dispensation, 
which  yet  was  full  of  many  other  kinds  of  sacrifices,  and 
this  at  a  time  when  mankind  generally  thought  such  sacrifi¬ 
ces  of  the  greatest  virtue  for  the  procuring  pardon  of  sin, 
and  the  divine  favour.  This  the  ancient  records  of  the 
heathen  world  attest.  Take  their  notion  in  the  words  of 
Philo  Byblius,  the  translator  of  Sanehoniatho.  §“It  was 
the  custom  of  the  ancients,  in  the  greatest  calamities  and 
dangers,  for  the  governors  of  the  city  or  nation,  in  order  to 
avert  the  destruction  of  all,  to  devote  their  beloved  son  to 
be  slain,  as  a  price  of  redemption  to  the  punishing  [or  aven¬ 
ging]  damions  ;  and  those  so  devoted  were  killed  after  e 


*  Jer.  xxxii.  35. 
i  Ezek.  xvi.  20,  21. 
vot.  t. 


t  Wisd.  xii.  4,  6. 

§  Ap.  Marsh,  n.  76,  77. 

D 


38 


DISSERTATION  II. 


mystical  manner.”  This  the  history  of  the  king  of  Moab,* 
when  he  was  in  great  distress  in  his  war  against  Israel  and 
Judah,  informs  us  of;  who  then  took  his  eldest  son,  that 
should  have  reigned  in  his  stead,  and  offered  him  for  a  burnt- 
offering  upon  the  city  wall.  This  also  the  Jewish  prophet 
Micahl  implies,  when  he  inquires,  Wherewith  shall  1  come 
before  the  Lord,  and  bow  myself  before  the  high  God  ? 
Shall  I  come  before  him  with  burnt-offerings,  with  calves  of 
a  year  old  ?  Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of 
rams,  with  ten  thousands  of  fat  kids  of  the  goats  f  Shall  1 
give  my  first-born  for  my  transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body 
for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ?  No  certainly  ;  for  he  hath  shelved 
thee,  0  man,  what  is  good  ;  and  ivhut  doth  the  Lord  require 
of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy,  and  to  humble 
thyself,  to  walk  with  thy  God? 

It  is  true,  God  did  here  try  the  faith  and  obedience  of  Abra¬ 
ham  to  himself  whether  they  were  as  strong  as  the  Pagans 
exhibited  to  their  daemons  or  idols  ;  yet  did  he  withal  take 
effectual  care,  and  that  by  a  miraculous  interposition  also,  to 
prevent  the  execution,  and  provided  himself  a  ram  as  a  vica¬ 
rious  substitute,  to  supply  the  place  of  Isaac  immediately. 
\And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  called  unto  Abraham,  and  said, 
Abraham,  Abraham ;  and  he  said,  Here  am  I:  And  he 
said,  Lay  not  thine  hand  upon  the  lad,  neither  do  thou  any 
thing  unto  him  ;  for  now  I  know  that  thou  fcarest  God, 
seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  from 
me.  And  Abraham  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  looked,  and  be¬ 
hold  a  ram  caught  in  the  thicket  by  his  horns  ;  and  Abra¬ 
ham  went  and  took  the  ram,  and  offered  him  up  for  a  burnt- 
offering  in  the  stead  of  his  son.  Thus  Jephthah^,  has  by 
many  been  thought  to  have  vowed  to  offer  up  his  only  daugh¬ 
ter  and  child  for  a  sacrifice,  and  that  as  bound  on  him,  upon 
supposition  of  his  vow,  by  a  divine  law,  Lev.  xxvii.  28,  29. 
of  which  opinion  I  was  once  myself ;  yet  upon  more  mature 
consideration  I  have,  for  some  time,  thought  this  to  be  a 
mistake,  and  that  his  vow  extended  only  to  her  being  devo¬ 
ted  to  serve  God  at  the  tabernacle,  or  elsewhere,  in  a  state 
of  perpetual  virginity  ;  and  that  neither  that  law  did  en¬ 
join  any  human  sacrifices,  nor  do  we  meet  with  any  exam¬ 
ple  of  its  execution  in  this  sense  afterwards.  Philo  never 
mentions  any  such  law,  no  more  than  Josephus  :  and  when 
Josephus  thought  that  Jephthah  had  made  such  a  vow,  and 


*  2  Kings  iii.  27. 
i  Micah  yi.  6— 8. 


t  Gen  xxii.  1 1 — 13. 
§  Judges  si.  86 — 3t>, 


DISSERTATION  II. 


39 


executed  it,  he  is  so  far  from  hinting  at  its  being  done  in 
compliance  with  any  law  of  God,  that  he  expressly  con¬ 
demns  him  for  it,  as  having  acted  contrary  thereto  ;  or  in 
his  own  words,*  u  as  having  offered  an  oblation  neither  con¬ 
formable  to  the  law,  nor  acceptable  to  God,  nor  weighing 
with  himself  what  opinion  the  hearers  would  have  of  such  a 
practice.” 

7-  That  Isaac  being  at  this  time,  according  to  Josephus, t 
who  is  herein  justly  followed  by  Archb.  Usher, |  no  less 
than  twentyrfive  years  of  age,  and  Abraham  being,  by  con¬ 
sequence,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  it  is  not  to  be  sup¬ 
posed  that  Abraham  could  bind  Isaac,  in  order  to  offer  him 
in  sacrifice,  but  by  his  own  free  consent ;  which  free  con¬ 
sent  of  the  party  who  is  to  suffer  seems  absolutely  necessary 
in  all  such  cases  :  and  which  free  consent  St.  Clement,  as 
well  as  Josephus,  distinctly  takes  notice  of  on  this  occasion. 
St.  Clement  describes  it  thus  u  Isaac  being  fully  persua¬ 
ded  of  what  he  knew  was  to  come,  cheerfully  yielded  him¬ 
self  up  tor  a  sacrifice.”  And  for  Josephus, |j  after  introdu¬ 
cing  Abraham  in  a  pathetic  speech,  laying  before  Isaac  the 
divine  command,  and  exhorting  him  patiently  and  joyfully 
to  submit  to  it,  he  tells  us,  that  u  Isaac  very  cheerfully  con¬ 
sented  ;”  and  then  introduces  him  in  a  short  but  very  pious 
answer,  acquiescing  in  the  proposal ;  and  adds,  that-“  he 
then  immediately  and  readily  went  to  the  altar  to  be  sacri¬ 
ficed.”  Nor  did  Jephthah,^}  perform  his  rash  vow,  what¬ 
ever  it  were,  till  his  daughter  had  given  her  consent  to  it. 

8.  It  appears  to  me  that  Abraham  never  despaired  entire¬ 
ly  of  the  interposition  of  providence  for  the  preservation  of 
Isaac,  although  in  obedience  to  the  command,  he  prepared 
to  sacrifice  him  to  God.  This  seems  to  me  intimated  in  Abra¬ 
ham’s  words  to  his  servants,  on  the  third  day,  when  he  was 
in  sight  of  the  mountain  on  which  he  was  to  offer  his  son 
Isaac,  W s  will  go  and  worship,  and  we  will  come  again  to 
you.  As  also  in  his  answer  to  his  son,  when  he  inquired, 
**Behold  the  fire  and  the  wood,  but  where  is  the  lamb  for 
a  burnt-offering?  And  Abraham  said,  My  son,  God  will 
provide  himself  a  lamb  for  a  burnt-offering.  Both  these 

*  Antiq.  B.  v.  7 — 10.  ||  Antiq  B.  i  •  liap  xiii.  sec.  3. 

1  Wntiq’B  i  chap  ii.  IT  Judges  xi.  36,  37. 

$  Ush.  Annal.  ad  A.  M.  2133.  **  Gen.  xxji.  5 — 8. 

$  1  Clem.  sec.  31. 


1 


40  DISSERTATION  II. 

passages  look  to  me  somewhat  like  such  an  expectation. 
However, 

9.  It  appeal's  most  evident,  that  Abraham,  and  I  suppose 
Isaac  also,  firmly  believed,  that  if  God  should  permit  Isaac 
to  be  actually  slain  as  a  sacrifice,  he  would  certainly  and 
speedily  raise  him  again  from  the  dead.  This,  to  be  sure,  is 
supposed  in  the  words  already  quoted,  that  he  and  his  son 
would  go  and  worship,  and  come  again  to  the  servants ; 
and  is  clearly  and  justly  collected  from  this  history  by  the 
author  to  the  Hebrews,  chap,  xi  IT — 19.  By  faith  Abra¬ 
ham,  when  he  was  tried,  offered  up  Isaac ;  and  he  that 
had  received  the  promises  offered  up  his  only  begotten, 
of  whom  it  was  said,  that  in  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called, 
accounting  or  reasoning  that  God  was  able  to  raise  him 
from  the  dead.  And  this  reasoning  was  at  once  very  obvi¬ 
ous,  and  wholly  undeniable,  that  since  God  was  truth  itself, 
and  had  over  and  over  promised  that  he  would*  multiply  Abra¬ 
ham  exceedingly  ;  that  he  should  be  a  father  of  many  nations  ; 
that  his  name  should  be  no  longer  Abram,  but  Abraham,  be¬ 
cause  a  father  of  many  nations  God  had  made  him,  &c. ; 
that  Sarai  his  wife  should  be  called  Sarah  ;  that  he  would 
bless  her,  and  give  Abraham  a  son  also  of  her  ;  and  that  he 
would  bless  him,  and  she  should  become  a  mother  of  nations, 
and  kings  of  people  should  be  of  her,  8fc .;  and  that  in  Isaac 
should  his  seed  be  called.  And  since  withal  it  is  here  suppo¬ 
sed,  that  Isaac  was  to  be  slain  as  a  sacrifice,  before  he  was 
married,  or  had  any  seed,  God  was,  for  certain,  obliged  by 
his  promises,  in  these  circumstances  to  raise  Isaac  again  from 
the  dead:  and  this  was  an  eminent  instance  of  that  faith 
wherebyj;  Abraham  believed  God,  and  it  wasimputcd  to  him 
for  righteousness,  viz.  that  if  God  should  permit  Isaac  to  be 
sacrificed,  he  would  certainly  and  quickly  raise  him  up  again 
from  the  dead, whence  also  he  received  him  in  a  figure, 
as  the  author  to  the  Hebrews  here  justly  observes. 

10.  That  the  firm  and  just  foundation  of  Abraham’s  faith 
'and  assurance  in  God  for  such  a  resurrection  was  this,  be¬ 
sides  the  general  consideration  of  the  divine  veracity,  that 
during  the  whole  time  of  his  sojourning  in  strange  countries, 
in  Canaan  and  Egypt,  ever  since  he  had  been  called  out  of 
Ch<aldea  or  Mesopotamia,  at  seventy-five  years  of  age,  he 
had] |  had  constant  experience  of  a  special,  of  an  over-ru- 


*  Gen.  xvii.  2 — 6,  16. 
t  Gen.  xxi.  12, 

X  Gen.  xv,  6, 


§  Heb.  xi.  19. 
!|  Gen.  xii.  4, 


DISSERTATION  II. 


41 


ling,  of  a  kind  and  gracious  providence  over  him,  till  this  his 
125th  year,  which  against  all  human  views  had  continually 
blessed  him  and  enriched  him,  and  in  his  elder  age  had  given 
him  first  Ishmael  by  Hagar,  and  afterwards  promised  him 
Isaac  to*  spring  from  his  oion  body  now  deadfi  and  from  the 
deadness  of  Sarah’s  womb,  when  she  was  past  age ,  and 
w hen  it  ceased  to  be  with  Sarah  after  the  manner  of  ivo- 
men,\  and  had  actually  performed  that  and  every  other  pro¬ 
mise,  how  improbable  soever  that  performance  had  appeared, 
he  had  ever  made  to  him,  and  this  during  fifty  entire  years 
together  ;  so  that,  although  at  his  first  exit  out  of  Chaldea  or 
Mesopotamia,  he  might  have  been  tempted  to  stagger  at  such 
a  promise  of  God,  through  unbelief  yet  might  he  now,  af¬ 
ter  fifty  years  constant  experience,  be  justly  strong  in  faith, 
giving  glory  to  God,  as  being  fully  persuaded,  that  what, 
God  had  promised,  the  resurrection  of  Isaac,  he  teas  both  able 
and  willing  to  perform. 

11.  That  this  assurance  therefore,  that  God,  if  he  per¬ 
mitted  Isaac  to  be  slain,  would  infallibly  raise  him  again  from 
the  dead,  entirely  alters  the  state  of  the  case  of  Abraham’s 
sacrificing  Isaac  to  the  true  God,  frmn  that  of  all  other  human 
sacrifices  whatsoever  offered  to  false  ones,  all  those  others 
being  done  without  the  least  promise  or  prospect  of  such  a 
resurrection  ;  and  this  indeed  takes  away  all  pretence  of  in¬ 
justice  of  the  divine  command,  as  well  as  of  all  inhumanity 
or  cruelty  in  Abraham’s  obedience  to  it. 

12.  That,  upon  the  whole,  this  command  to  Abraham, 
and  what  followed  on  it,  looks  so  very  like  an  intention  of 
God  to  typify  or  represent  beforehand  in  Isaac,  a  beloved  or 
only  begotten  son,  what  was  to  happen  long  afterward  to  the 
great  son  and  seed  of  Abraham,  the  Messiah,  the  beloved 
and  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  whose  day  Abraham 
saw  by  faith  beforehand,  and  rejoiced  to  see  it,  ||  viz.  that  he 
by  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God  should 
be  crucified,  and  slain*\[  as  a  sacrifice,  and  should  be  raised 
again  the  third  day,  and  this  at  Jerusalem  also  :  and  that, 
in  the  mean  time,  God  would  accept  of  the  sacrifices  of  rams, 
and  the  like  animals,  at  the  same  city  Jerusalem,  that  one 
cannot  easily  avoid  the  application.  This  seems  the  reason 
why  Abraham  was  obliged  to  go  to  the  land  of  Moriah, 
or  Jerusalem  ;  and  why  it  is  noted,  that  it  was  the  third 

§  Rom  iv.  20,  21, 

||  John  viii.  56. 

IT  Acts  ii.  33 

D  2 


*  Rom.  iv,  19. 
t  Heb.  xi.  11. 

X  Gen.  xviii.  11- 


42 


DISSERTATION  II. 


day*  that  he  came  to  the  place,  which  implies  that  the  re¬ 
turn  back,  after  the  slaying  of  the  sacrifice,  would  naturally 
be  the  third  day  also  ;  and  why  this  sacrifice  was  not  Ishma- 
el  the  son  of  the  flesh  only,  but  Isaac  the  son  by  promise. 
the  beloved  son  of  Abraham,  and  why  Isaac  was  styled  the 
only  son,  or  only  begotten  son  of  Abraham,  though  he  had 
Ishmael  besides  ;  and  why  Isaac  himself  was  to  hear  the 
ivoodi  on  which  he  was  to  be  sacrificed  ;  |and  why  the  place 
was  no  other  than  the  land  of  Moriah  f  or  vision,  i.  e.  most 
probably  a  place  where  the  Shechinah  or  Messiah  had  been 
seen,  and  God  by  him  worshipped,  even  before  the  days  of 
Abraham,  and  where  lately  lived,  and  perhaps  now  lived, 
Melchizedec,  the  grand  type  of  the  Messiah,  (who  might 
then  possibly  be  present  at  the  sacrifice,)  and  why  this  sacri¬ 
fice  was  to  be  offered  either  on  the  mountain  called  afterward 
distinctly  Moriah,  where  the  temple  stood,  and  where  all  the 
Mosaic  sacrifices  were  afterward  to  be  offered,  as  Josephus|| 
and  the  generality  suppose,  or  perhaps,  as  others  suppose, 
that  where  the  Messiah  himself  was  to  be  offered,  its  neigh¬ 
bour  Mount  Calvary.  This  seems  also  the  reason  why  the 
ram  was  substituted  as  a  vicarious  sacrifice  instead  of  Isaac. 
These  circumstances  seem  to  me  very  peculiar  and  extraor¬ 
dinary,  and  to  render  the  present  hypothesis  extremely  pro¬ 
bable.  Nor  perhaps  did  St.  Clement  mean  any  thing  else, 
when,  in  his  forecited  passage,  he  says,  that  “  Isaac  was 
fully  persuaded  of  what  he  knew  was  to  come,”  and  there¬ 
fore,  u  cheerfully  yielded  himself  up  for  a  sacrifice.”  Nor 
indeed,  does  that  name  of  this  place,  Jehovah  Jireh,  which 
continued  till  the  days  of  Moses,  and  signified,  God  will  see. 
or  rather,  God  icill  provide,  seem  to  be  given  it  by  Abra¬ 
ham,  on  any  other  account,  than  that  God  would  there,  in 
the  fulness  of  time,  provide  himself  a  lamb  [that  *i\la?nb  of 
God,  which  was  to  take  away  the  sins  of  the  loorldj  for  a 
burnt-offering. 

But  now  if,  after  all,  it  be  objected,  that  how  peculiar  and 
how  typical  soever  the  circumstances  of  Abraham  and  Isaac 
might  be  in  themselves,  of  which  the  heathens  about  them 
could  have  little  notion,  yet  such  a  divine  command  to  Abra¬ 
ham  for  slaying  his  beloved  son  Isaac,  must  however  be  of  very 
ill  example  to  the  Gentile  world,  and  that  it  probably  did 

*  Gen.  xxii.  2,  4 


t  Heb.  xi.  17. 
t  Gen.  xxli.  6. 


DISSERTATION  II. 


43 


either  first  occasion,  or  at  least  greatly  encourage  their  wicked 
practices,  in  offering  their  children  for  sacrifices  to  their  idols, 
I  answer  by  the  next  consideration  : 

13.  That  this  objection  is  so  far  from  truth,  that  God’s 
public  and  miraculous  prohibition  of  the  execution  of  this 
command  to  Abraham,  (which  command  itself  the  Gentiles 
would  not  then  at  all  be  surprised  at,  because  it  was  so  like 
to  their  own  usual  practices,)  as  well  as  God’s  substitution  of 
a  vicarious  oblation,  seem  to  have  been  the  very  occasion  of 
the  immediate  abolition  of  those  impious  sacrifices  by  Teth- 
mosis,  or  Amosis,  among  the  neighbouring  Egyptians,  and  of 
the  substitution  of  more  inoffensive  ones  there  instead  of  them. 
Take  the  account  of  this  abolition,  which  we  shall  presently 
prove  was  about  the  time  of  Abraham’s  offering  up  his  son 
Isaac,  as  it  is  preserved  by  Porphyry,  from  Manetho,  the  fa¬ 
mous  Egyptian  historian  and  chronologer,  which  is  also  cited 
from  Porphyry,  by  Eusebius  and  Theodoret  :  u  #Amosis, 
says  Porphyry,  abolished  the  law  for  slaying  men  in  Heliopo¬ 
lis  of  Egypt,  as  Manetho  bears  witness  in  his  book  of  An¬ 
tiquity  and  Piety.  They  wore  sacrificed  to  Juno,  and  were 
examined,  as  were  the  pure  calves  that  were  also  sealed  with 
them  :  they  were  sacrificed  three  in  a  day.  In  whose  stead, 
Amosis  commanded  that  men  of  wax,  of  the  same  number, 
should  be  substituted.” 

Now  I  have  lately  shown,  that  these  Egyptians  had  Abra¬ 
ham  in  great  veneration,  and  that  all  the  icisdom  of  those 
Egyptians,  in  which  Moses  was  afterward  learned ,  was  de¬ 
rived  from  no  other  than  from  Abraham.  Now  it  appears 
evidently  by  the  forecited  passage,  that  the  first  abolition  of 
these  human  sacrifices,  and  that  the  -substitution  of  waxen 
images  in  their  stead,  and  particularly  at  Heliopolis,  in  the 
•northeast  part  of  Egypt,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Beersheba, 
in  the  south  of  Palestine,  where  Abraham  now  lived,  at  the 
distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  only,  was  in 
the  dajrs,  and  by  the  order  of  Tethmosis  or  Amosis,  who  was 
the  first  of  the  Egyptian  kings,  after  the  expulsion,  of  the 
Phoenician  shepherds.  Now  therefore,  we  are  to  inquire 
when  this  Tethmosis,  or  Amosis  lived,  and  compare  his  time 
with  the  time  of  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac.  Now  if  we  look  into 
mv  chronological  table,  published  A.  D.  1721,  we  shall  find 
that  the  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  year  of  Abraham,  or,  which 
is  all  one,  the  twenty-fifth  year  of  Isaac,  falls  into  A.  M.  25 73, 
or  into  the  thirteenth  year  of  Tethmosis  or  Amosis,  which  is 


*  Marsh;  p.  301. 


44 


DISSERTATION  II. 


the  very  middle  of  his  twenty-five  years  reign  ;  so  that  this 
abolition  of  human  sacrifices  in  Egj^pt,  and  substitution  of 
others  in  their  room,  seems  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the 
solemn  prohibition  of  such  a  sacrifice  in  the  case  of  Abraham  , 
and  by  the  following  substitution  of  a  ram  in  its  stead  :  which 
account  of  this  matter  not  only  takes  away  the  groundless  sus¬ 
picions  of  the  moderns,  but  shows  the  great  seasonableness 
of  the  divine  prohibition  of  the  execution  of  this  command 
to  Abraham,  as  probably  the  direct  occasion  of  putting  a 
stop  to  the  barbarity  of  the  Egyptians  in  offering  human  sa¬ 
crifices,  and  that  for  many,  if  not  for  all  generations  after¬ 
ward. 


# 


DISSERTATION  III. 


Tacitus’s  account  of  the  Origin  of  the  Jewish  Nation^ 
and  of  the  particulars  of  the  last  Jewish  War,  that  the 
former  was  probably  icritten  in  opposition  to  Josephus’s 
Antiquities,  and  that  the  latter  was  for  certain  almost 
all  directly  taken  from  Josephus’s  History  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  War. 

Since  Tacitus,  the  famous  Roman  historian,  who  has  writ¬ 
ten  more  largely  and  professedly  about  the  origin  of  the  Jew¬ 
ish  nation,  about  the  chorography  of  Judea,  and  the  last 
Jewish  war  under  Cestius,  Vespasian,  and  Titus,  than  any 
other  old  Roman  historian  ;  and  since  both  Josephus  and 
Tacitus  were  in  favour  with  the  same  Roman  emperors,  Ves¬ 
pasian,  Titus,  and  Domitian  ;  and  since  Tacitus  was  an  em¬ 
inent  pleader  and  writer  of  history  at  Rome,  during  the  time 
or  not  long  after  our  Josephus  had  been  there  studying  the 
Greek  language,  reading  the  Greek  books,  and  writing  his 
own  works  in  the  same  Greek  language,  which  language  was 
almost  universally  known  at  Rome  in  that  age  ;  and  since 
therefore,  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  suppose  that  Tacitus 
could  be  unacquainted  with  the  writings  of  Josephus,  it  can¬ 
not  but  be  highly  proper  to  compare  their  accounts  of  Judea, 
of  the  Jews,  and  Jewish  affairs  together.  Nor  is  it  other 
than  a  very  surprising  paradox  to  me,  how  it  has  been  possi¬ 
ble  for  learned  men,  particularly  for  the  several  learned  edi¬ 
tors  of  Josephus  and  Tacitus,  to  be  so  very  silent  about  this 
matter  as  they  have  hitherto  been,  especially  when  not  only 
the  correspondence  of  the  authors  as  to  time  and  place,  but 
the  likeness  of  the  subject-matter  and  circumstances  is  so 
very  often,  so  very  remarkable ;  nay,  indeed,  since  many  of 
the  particular  facts  belonged  peculiarly  to  the  region  of  Ju¬ 
dea,  and  to  the  Jewish  nation,  and  are  such  as  could  hardly 
be  taken  by  a  foreigner  from  any  other  author  than  from  our 
Josephus,  this  strange  silence  is  almost  unaccountable,  if  not 


46 


DISSERTATION  III. 


inexcusable.  The  two  only  other  writers  whom  we  know  of, 
when  such  Jewish  affairs  might  be  supposed  to  be  taken  by 
Tacitus,  who  never  appears  to  be  in  Judea  himself,  are  Jus¬ 
tus  of  Tiberias,  a  Jewish  historian,  contemporary  with  Jose¬ 
phus,  and  one  Antonius  Julianus,  once  mentioned  by  Minu- 
tius  Felix,  in  his  Octavius,  §  33,  as  having  written  on  the 
same  subject  with  Josephus,  and  both  already  mentioned  by 
me  on  another  occasion,  Dissert.  1.  As  to  Justus  of  Tibe¬ 
rias,  he  could  not  be  the  historian  whence  Tacitus  took  his 
Jewish  affairs,  because,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  place  just 
cited,  the  principal  passage  in  Tacitus  of  that  nature,  concer¬ 
ning  Christ,  and  his  sufferings  under  the  emperor  Tiberius, 
and  by  his  procurator  Pontius  Pilate,  was  not  there,  as  we 
know'  from  ihe  testimony  of  Photius,  Cod.  xxx.  And  as  to 
Antonius  Julianus,  his  very  name  shows  him  not  to  have 
been  a  Jew,  but  a  Roman.  He  is  never  mentioned  by  Jose¬ 
phus,  and  so  probably  knew  no  more  of  the  country  or  af¬ 
fairs  of  Judea,  than  Tacitus  himself.  He  was,  I  suppose, 
rather  an  epitomiser  of  Josephus,  and  not  so  early  as  Tacitus, 
than  an  original  historian  himself  before  him.  Nor  could  so 
exact  a  writer  as  Tacitus  ever  take  up  with  such  poor  and 
almost  unknown  historians  as  these  were,  while  Josephus’s 
Seven  Books  of  the  Jevrish  War  were  then  so  common  ; 
were  in  such  great  reputation  at  Rome  ;  were  attested  to, 
and  recommended  by  Vespasian  and  Titus,  the  emperors,  byf 
king  Agrippa,  and  king  Archelaus,  and  Herod  king  of  Chal- 
cis  ;  and  he  wras  there  honoured  with  a  statue  :  and  these  his 
books  were  deposited  at  the  public  library  at  Rome,  as  we 
know  from  Josephus  himself,  Eusebius,  and  Jerom,  while 
we  never  hear  of  any  other  history  of  the  Jews  that  had 
then  and  there  any  such  attestations  or  recommendations. 
Some  things  indeed  Tacitus  might  take  from  the  Roman  re¬ 
cords  of  this  war,  I  mean  from  the  Commentaries  of  Vespa¬ 
sian,  which  are  mentioned  by  Josephus  himself,  in  his  own 
Life,  §  65.  vol.  iv.  and  some  others  from  the  relations  of  Ro¬ 
man  people,  where  the  affairs  of  Rome  were  concerned  ;  as 
also  other  affairs  might  be  remembered  by  old  officers  and  sol¬ 
diers  that  had  been  in  the  Jewish  war.  Accordingly,  I  still 
suppose  that  Tacitus  had  some  part  of  his  information  these 
ways,  and  particularly  where  he  a  little  differs  from,  or  makes 
additions  to  Josephus  :  but  then,  as  this  will  all  reach  no 
further  than  three  or  four  years  during  this  war,  so  will  it  by 
no  means  account  for  that  abridgement  of  the  geography  of 
the  country,  and  entire  series  of  the  principal  facts  of  history 


DISSERTATION  III. 


47 


thereto  relating,  which  are  in  Tacitus,  from  the  days  of  An- 
tiochus  Epiphanes,  240  years  before  that  war,  with  which  An- 
tiochus,  both  Josephus  and  Tacitus  begin  their  distinct  his¬ 
tory  of  the  Jews,  preparatory  to  the  history  of  the  late  war. 
Nor  could  Tacitus  take  the  greatest  part  of  those  earlier  facts 
belonging  to  the  Jewish  nation  from  the  days  of  Moses,  or 
to  Christ  and  the  Christians  in  the  days  of  Tiberius,  from 
Roman  authors ;  of  which  Jewish  and  Christian  affairs, 
those  authors  had  usually  very  little  knowledge,  and  which 
the  heathea  generally  did  grossly  pervert  and  shamefully  fal¬ 
sify  :  and  this  is  so  true  as  to  Tacitus’s  own  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  Jewish  nation,  that  the  reader  may  almost  take 
it  for  a  constant  rule,  that  when  Tacitus  contradicts  Jose¬ 
phus’s  Jewish  Antiquities,  he  either  tells  direct  falsehoods, 
or  truths  so  miserably  disguised,  as  renders  them  little  bet¬ 
ter  than  falsehoods,  and  hardly  ever  light  upon  any  thing 
relating  to  them  that  is  true  and  solid  but  when  the  same 
is  in  those  Antiquities  at  this  day  ;  of  which  matters,  more 
will  be  said  in  the  notes  on  his  history  immediately  follow¬ 
ing. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS. 

BOOK  V. - CHAP.  II. 

Since  we  are  now  going  to  relate  the  final  period  of  this 
famous  city  [Jerusalem,]  it  seems  proper  to  give  an  account 
of  its  original.* — The  tradition  is,  that  the  Jews  ran  away 
from  the  island  of  Crete,  and  settled  themselves  on  the  coast 
of  Lybia,  and  this  at  that  time  when  Saturn  was  driven  out 
of  his  kingdom  by  the  power  of  Jupiter:  an  argument  for 
it  is  fetched  from  their  name.  The  mountain  Ida  is  famous 
in  Crete  ;  and  the  neighbouring  inhabitants  are  named  Idaei , 
which  with  a  barbarous  augment,  becomes  the  name  of  Ju~ 
daei  [Jews.]  Some  say  they  were  a  people  that  were  very 
numerous  in  Egypt  under  the  reign  of  Isis,  and  that  the 
Egyptians  got  free  from  that  burden  by  sending  them  into 
the  adjoining  countries,  under  their  captains  Hierosolymus 
and  Judas.  The  greatest  part  say,  they  were  those  Ethi- 


*  Most  of  these  stories  are  so  entirely  groundless,  and  so  contradicto¬ 
ry  to  one  another,  that  they  do  not  deserve  a  serious  confutation.  It  is 
Strange  Tacitus  could  persuade  himself  thus  crudely  to  set  them  down. 


48 


DISSERTATION  III. 


opians,  whom  fear  and  hatred  obliged  to  change  their  habit¬ 
ations  in  the  reign  of  king  Cepheus  * * * §  There  are  those 
which  report  they  were  Assyrians,  who  wanting  lands,  got 
together,  and  obtained  part  of  Egypt,  and  soon  afterward 
settled  themselves  in  cities  of  their  own,  in  the  lands  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  the  parts  of  Syria  that  lay  nearest  to  them.f 
Others  pretended  their  origin  to  be  more  eminent,  and  that 
the  Solymi,  a  people  celebrated  in  Homer’s  poems,  were  the 
founders  of  this  nation,  and  give  this  their  own  name  Ilier- 
osolyma  to  the  city,  which  they  built  there.f 

Chap.  III.]  Many  authors  agree,  that  when  once  an  in¬ 
fectious  distemper  was  arisen  in  Egypt,  and  made  men’s 
bodies  impure,  Bocchoris,  their  king,  went  to  the  oracle  of 
[Jupiter]  Hammon,  and  begged  he  would  grant  him  some 
relief  against  this  evil,  and  that  he  was  enjoined  to  purge  his 
nation  of  them,  and  to  banish  this  kind  of  men  into  other 
countries,  as  hateful  to  the  gods.§  That  when  he  had  sought 
for,  and  gotten  them  all  together,  they  were  left  in  a  vast  des¬ 
ert  ;  that  hereupon  the  rest  devoted  themselves  to  weeping 
and  inactivity  ;  but  one  of  those  exiles,  Moses  by  name,  ad¬ 
vised  them  to  look  for  no  assistance  from  any  of  the  gods,  or 
from  any  of  mankind,  since  they  had  been  abandoned  by  both, 
but  bade  them  believe  in  him, as  in  a  celestial  leader, ||  by  whose 
help  they  had  already  gotten  clear  of  their  present  miseries. 
They  agreed  to  it ;  and  though  they  wei'e  unacquainted  with 
every  thing,  they  began  their  journey  at  random  :  but  nothing 
tired  them  so  much  as  want  of  water;  and  now  they  laid  them¬ 
selves  down  on  the  ground  to  a  great  extent,  as  just  ready  to 
perish,  when  an  herd  of  wild  asses  came  from  feeding,  and 
went  to  a  rock  overshadowed  by  a  grove  of  trees.  Moses  fol¬ 
lowed  them,  as  conjecturing  that  there  was  [thereabouts] 


*  One  would  wonder  how  Tacitus,  or  any  heathen,  could  suppose 
the  African  Ethiopians  under  Cepheus,  who  are  known  to  be  blacks, 
could  be  the  parents  of  the  Jews,  who  are  known  to  be  whites. 

t  This  account  comes  nearest  the  truth  ;  and  this  Tacitus  might  have 
from  Josephus,  only  disguised  by  himself. 

t  This  Tacitus  might  have  out  of  Josephus,  Antiq.  B.  vii.  cli.  iii. 
sec.  2.  vol.  ii 

§  Strange  doctrines  to  Josephus  !  who  truly  observes  on  this  occa¬ 
sion,  that  gods  are  angry  not  at  bodily  imperfections,  but  at  wicked 
practices.  Apion,  B.  i  §  28.  vo).  vi. 

||  This  believing  in  Moses  as  in  a  celestial  leader ,  seems  a  blind  con¬ 
fession  of  Tacitus,  that  Moses  professed  to  have  his  laws  from  God. 


DISSERTATION  III. 


49 


some  grassy  soil,  and  so  opened  large  sources  of  water  for 
them.* * * §  That  was  an  ease  to  them ;  and  when  they  had  jour¬ 
neyed  continually  tsix  entire  days,  on  the  seventh  day  drove 
out  the  inhabitants,  and  obtained  those  lands  wherein  their 
city  and  temple  were  dedicated. 

Chap.  IV.]  As  for  Moses,  in  order  to  secure  the  nation 
firmly  to  himself,  he  ordained  new  rites,  and  such  as  were 
contrary  to  those  of  other  men.  All  things  are  with  them  pro¬ 
fane  which  with  us  are  sacred  ;  and  again,  those  practices  are 
allowed  among  them  which  are  by  us  esteemed  most  abomi¬ 
nable.]; 

They  place  the  image  of  that  animal  in  their  most  holy 
place,  by  whose  indication  it  was  that  they  had  escaped  their 
wandering  condition  and  their  thirst.^ 

They  sacrifice  rams  by  way  of  reproach,  to  [Jupiter]  Ham- 
mon.  An  ox  is  also  sacrificed,  which  the  Egyptians  wor¬ 
ship  under  the  name  of  Apis. || 

They  abstain  from  swine’s  flesh,  as  a  memorial  of  that  mi¬ 
serable  destruction  which  the  mange,  to  which  that  creature 
is  liable,  brought  on  them,  and  with  which  they  had  been 
defiled.^] 

That  they  had  endured  a  long  famine,  they  attest  still  by 
their  frequent  fastings.**  And  that  they  stole  the  fruits  of 
the  earth,  we  have  an  argument  from  the  bread  of  the  Jews9 
which  is  unleavened.tt 

It  is  generally  supposed  they  rest  on  the  ^seventh  day, 
because  that  day  gave  them  [the  first]  rest  from  their  labours. 


*  This  looks  also  like  a  plain  confession  of  Tacitus’s,  that  Moses 
brought  the  Jews  water  out  of  a  rock  in  great  plenty,  which  he  might 
have  from  Josephus.  Antiq.  B.  iii.  ch.  i.  §  7. 

t  Strange  indeed!  that  600,000  men  should  travel  above  200  miles 
over  the  deserts  of  Arabia  in  six  days,  and  conquer  Judea  the  seventh. 

t  This  is  not  true  in  general,  but  only  so  far,  that  the  Israelites  were 
by  circumcision  and  other  rites,  to  be  kept  separate  from  the  wicked 
and  idolatrous  nations  about  them. 

§  This  strange  slorv  contradicts  what  the  same  Tacitus  will  tell  us 
presently,  that  when  Pompey  went  into  the  holy  of  holies,  be  found  n» 
image  there. 

|1  These  are  only  guesses  of  Tacitus’s  or  his  heathen  authors,  but  no 
more. 

IT  Such  memorials  of  what  must  have  been  very  reproachful,  are 
Strangers  to  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  without  any  probability, 

**  The  Jews  had  but  one  solemn  fast  of  old  iii  the  whole  year,  the 
great  day  of  expiation. 

ft  Unleavened  bread  was  only  used  at  the  passover. 
t*  It  is  very  strange  that  Tacitus  should  not  know  or  confess  (hat  the 
Jews'  seventh  day  and  seventh  year  of  rest  were  in  the  memory  of  the 

Vol  r>  E 


50 


DISSERTATION  III. 


Besides  which,  they  are  idle  on  every  #seventh  year,  SS 
being  pleased  with  a  lazy  life.  Others  say,  that  they  do  ho* * 
nour  thereby  to  tSaturn ;  or  perhaps  the  Idaei  gave  them 
this  part  of  their  religion,  who  [as  we  said  above,]  were  ex¬ 
pelled,  together  with  Saturn,  and  who,  as  we  have  been  in¬ 
formed,  were  the  founders  of  this  nation  ;  or  els* * §3  it  was  be¬ 
cause  the  star  Saturn  moves  in  the  highest  orb,  and  of  the 
seven  planets  exerts  the  principal  part  of  that  energy  whereby 
mankind  are  governed  :  and  indeed  the  most  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  exert  their  power,  and  perform  their  courses  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  number  seven. t 

Chap.  V.]  These  rites,  by  what  manner  soever  they  were 
first  begun,  are  supported  by  their  antiquity.^  The  rest  of 
their  institutions  are  |jawkward,  impure,  and  got  ground  by 
their  pravity ;  for  ever}?  vile  fellow,  despising  the  rites  of 
his  forefathers,  brought  thither  their  tribute  and  contribu¬ 
tions,  by  which  means  the  Jewish  commonwealth  was  aug¬ 
mented.  And  because  among  themselves  there  is  an  unalter¬ 
able  fidelity  and  kindness  always  ready  at  hand,  but  bitter  en¬ 
mity  towards  all  others, they  are  a  people  separated  from 
others  in  their  food,  and  in  their  beds ;  though  they  be  the 
lewdest  nation  upon  earth, **  yet  will  they  not  corrupt  foreign 
women,  though  ftnothing  be  esteemed  unlawful  among  them¬ 
selves. 


seventh  or  sabbath-day’s  rest,  after  the  six  days  of  creation.  Every 
Jew;,  as  well  as  every  Christian,  could  have  informed  him  of  those  mat¬ 
ters. 

*  A  strange  hypothesis  of  the  origin  of  the  sabbatic  year,  and  w  ithout 
all  good  foundation.  Tacitus  probably  bad  never  heard  of  the  Jews' 
year  of  jubilee,  so  he  says  nothing  of  it. 

t  As  if  the  Jews,  in  the  days  of  Moses,  or  long  before,  knew  that  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  vvould  long  afterward  call  the  seventh  day  of  the 
week  Saturn’ s-ilay;  which  Dio  observes  was  not  so  called  of  old  time; 
and  it  is  a  question  whether  before  the  Jew's  fell  into  idolatry  they  ever 
heard  of  such  a  star  or  god  as  Saturn.  Amos  v.  25.  Acts  vii.  43. 

f  That  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  rule  over  the  affairs  of  mankind,  was 
an  heathen  and  notaJew'ish  notion:  neither  Jews  nor  Christians  were 
permitted  to  deal  in  astrology,  though  Tacitus^seems  to  have  been  deep 
in  it. 

§  This  acknowledgment  of  the  antiquity  of  Moses,  and  of  his  Jewish 
settlement,  was  what  the  heathen  cared  not  always  to  own. 

||  What  these  pretcn\led  awkward  and  impure  institutions  were,  Ta¬ 
citus  does  not  inform  us. 

1!  Josephus  shows  the  contrary,  as  to  the  laws  of  Moses,  contr.  Apion 
Book  ii.  sec.  22.  vol.  vi. 

**  An  entirely  false  character,  and  contrary  to  their  many  law;$ 
against  uncleanness.  See  Josephus’s  Antiq.  B.  iii.  cap.  xi.  sec.  12 

it  An  high,  and  l  cjpubt  a  false  coqnaendation  of  the  Jew's. 


DISSERTATION  III. 


51 

They  have  ordained  circumcision  of  the  part  used  in  gene¬ 
ration,  that  they  may  thereby  be  distinguished  from  other  peo¬ 
ple;  the  ^proselytes  to  their  religion  have  the  same  usage. 

They  are  taught  nothing  sooner  than  to  despise  the  gods,  to 
renounce  their  country,  and  to  have  their  parents,  children, 
and  brethren  in  the  utmost  contempt ;+  but  still  they  take 
care  to  increase  and  multiply,  for  it  is  esteemed  utterly  un¬ 
lawful  to  kill  any  of  their  children. 

They  also  look  on  the  souls  of  those  that  die  in  battle,  or 
are  put  to  death  for  their  crimes,  as  eternal.  Hence  comes 
their  love  of  posterity,  and  contempt  of  death. 

They  derive  their  ^custom  of  burying,  instead  of  burning 
their  dead  from  the  Egyptians  :  they  have  also  the  same  care 
of  the  dead  with  them,  and  the  same  persuasion  about  the  in¬ 
visible  world  below  :  but  of  the  gods  above,  their  opinion  is 
contrary  to  theirs.  The  Egyptians  worship  abundance  of 
animals,  and  images  of  various  sorts. 

The  Jews  have  no  notion  of  any  thing  more  than  one  divine 
being, §  and  that  known  only  by  the  mind.  They  esteem  such 
to  be  profane  who  frame  images  of  gods  out  of  perishable 
matter,  and  in  the  shape  of  men.  That  this  being  is  supreme 
and  eternal,  immutable  and  imperishable,  is  their  doctrine. 
Accordingly  they  have  no  images  in  their  cities,  much  less  in 
their  temples :  they  never  grant  this  piece  of  flattery  to  kings, 
or  this  kind  of  honour  to  emperors. I|  But  because  their 
priests,  when  the  play  on  the  pipe  and  th«  y  timbrels,  wear 
ivy  round  their  heads,  and  a  golden  ffvine  has  been  found  in 
their  temple,  some  have  thought  that  they  worshipped  our 


*  The  proselytes  of  justice  only,  not  the  proselytes  of  the  gates, 
t  How  does  this  agree  with  that  unalterable  fidelity  and  kindness 
which  Tacitus  told  us  the  Jews  had  towards  one  another?  unless  he  only 
means  that  they  preferred  the  divine  command  before  their  nearest  rela¬ 
tions,  which  is  the  highest  degree  of  Jewish  and  Christian  piety. 

t  This  custom  is  at  least  as  old  among  the  Hebrews  as  the  days  of 
Abraham,  and  the  cave  of  Machpelah,  long  before  the  Israelites  went 
into  Egypt.  Gen.  xxiii.  1 — 20.  xxv.  8 — 10. 

§  These  are  valuable  concessions,  which  Tacitus  here  makes  as  to  the 
unspotted  piety  of  the  Jewish  nation,  in  the  worship  of  one  infinite,  in¬ 
visible  God,  and  absolute  rejection  of  all  idolatry,  and  of  alt  worship  of 
images,  nay,  of  the  image  of  the  emperor  Caius  himself,  or  of  affording 
it  a  place  in  their  temple. 

||  All  these  concessions  were  to  be  learned  from  Josephus,  and  almost 
only  from  him  ;  out  of  whom  therefore  I  concluded  Tacitus  took  the 
finest  part  of  his  character  of  the  Jews. 

If  This  particular  fact,  that  there  was  a  golden  vine  in  the  front  of  the 
Jewish  temple,  was  in  all  probability  taken  by  Tacitus  out  of  Josephus; 
but  as  the  Jewish  priests  were  never  adorned  with  ivy,  the  signal  of 
Bacchus,  how  Tacitus  came  to  imagine  this  l  cannot  tell. 


52 


DISSERTATION  III. 


father  Bacchus,  the  conqueror  of  the  East :  whereas  the  ce¬ 
remonies  of  the  Jews  do  not  at  all  agree  with  those  of  Bac¬ 
chus,  for  he  appointed  rites  that  were  of  a  jovial  nature,  anc t 
fit  for  festivals,  while  the  practices  of  the  Jews  are  absurdand 
sordid. 

Chap  VI.]  The  limits  of  Judea  easterly  are  bounded  by 
Arabia :  Egypt  lies  on  the  south  :  on  the  west  are  Phoenicia 
and  the  [greatj  sea.  They  have  a  prospect  of  Syria,  on  their 
north  quarter,  as  at  some  distance  from  them.* * * § 

The  bodies  of  the  men  are  healthy,  and  such  as  "will  bear 
great  labours. 

They  have  not  many  showers  qf  rain :  their  soil  is  very 
fruitful :  fire  produce  of  their  land  is  like  ours,  in  great 
plenty  .t 

They  have  also  besides  ours,  two  trees  peculiar  to  them¬ 
selves;  the  balsam  tree,  and  the  palm  tree.  Their  groves  of 
palms  are  tall  and  beautiful.  The  balsam  tree  is  not  very 
large.  As  soon  as  any  branch  is  swelled,  the  veins  quake 
as  for  fear,  if  you  bring  an  iron  knife  to  cut  them.  They 
are  to  be  opened  with  a  broken  piece  of  stone,  or  with  the 
shell  of  a  fish.  The  juice  is  useful  in  physic. 

Libanus  is  their  principal  mountain,  and  is  very  high,  and 
yet  what  is  very  strange  to  be  related,  it  is  always  shadowed 
with  trees,  and  never  free  from  snow.  The  same  mountain 
supplies  the  river  Jordan  with  water,  and  affords  it  its  foun¬ 
tains  also.  Nor  is  this  Jordan  carried  into  the  sea;  it  passes 
through  one  and  a  second  lake,  undiminished,  but  it  is  stopped 
by  the  third. I 

This  last  lake  is  vastly  great  in  circumference,  as  if  it  were 
a  sea.^i  It  is  of  an  ill  taste,  and  is  pernicious  to  the  adjoin¬ 
ing  inhabitants  by  its  strong  smell.  The  wind  raises  no  waves 
there,  nor  will  it  maintain  either  fishes,  or  such  birds  as  use 
the  water.  The  reason  is  uncertain ;  but  the  fact  is  this* 
that  bodies  cast  into  it  are  borne  up,  as  by  somewhat  solid. 


*  See  the  chorography  ol  Judea  in  Josephus,  of  the  War.  B.  iii  sec.  3. 
vol.  v.  whence  most  probably  Tacitus  framed  Ibis  short  abridgement  of 
it.  It  comes  in  both  authors  naturally  before  Vespasian’s  first  campaign 

f  The  latter  branch  of  this,  Tacitus  might  have  from  Josephus,  of  the 
War,  B  iii.  cap.  iii.  see.  2,  3,  4.  vol.  v.  The  other  is  not  in  the  pre¬ 
sent  copies. 

t  These  accounts  of  Jordan,  of  its  fountains  derived  from  Mount  Li- 
banus,  and  of  the  twolakes  it  runs  through  and  its  stoppage  by  the  third, 
are  exactly  agreeable  to  Josephus,  of  the  War,  B.  iii.  cap.  x.  sec.  7,  8 
vol.  v. 

§  Mo  less  than  580  furlongs  long,  and  150  broad,  in  Josephus,  of  the 
War,  B>  iv.  cep.  viii.  sec.  4.  vol.  r. 


DISSERTATION  III. 


Those  who  can,  and  those  who  cannot  swim,  are  equally 
borne  up  by  it.#  At  a  certain  time  of  the  tyear  it  casts  out 
bitumen :  the  manner  of  gathering  it,  like  other  arts,  has 
been  taught  by  experience.  The  liquor  is  of  its  own  nature 
of  a  black  colour;  and,  if  you  pour  vinegar  upon  it,  it  clings 
together,  and  swims  on  the  top.  Those  whose  business  it  is, 
take  it  in  their  hands,  and  pull  it  into  the  upper  parts  of  the 
ship,  after  which  it  follows,  without  further  attraction,  and 
fills  the  ship  full,  till  you  cut  it  off :  nor  can  you  cut  it  off 
either  with  a  brass  or  an  iron  instrument;  but  it  cannot  bear 
the  touch  of  blood,  or  of  a  cloth  wet  with  the  menstrual  pur¬ 
gations  of  women,  as  the  ancient  authors  say.  But  those  that 
are  acquainted  with  the  place  assure  us,  that  these  waves  of 
‘  bitumen  are  driven  along,  and  by  the  hand  drawn  to  the  shore, 
and  that  when  they  are  dried  by  the  warm  steams  from  the 
.  earth,  and  the  force  of  the  sun,  they  are  cut  in  pieces  with 
axes,  and  wedges,  as  timber  and  stones  are  cut  in  pieces. 

Chap  VII.]  Not  far  from  this  lake  are  those  plains, 
which  are  related  to  have  been  of  old  fertile,  and  to  have  had 
many  [cities  full  of  people,  but  to  have  been  burnt  up  by  a 
stroke  of  lightning:  it  is  also  said,  that  the  footsteps  of  that 
destruction  still  remain,  and  that  the  earth  itself  appears  as 
burnt  earth,  and  has  lost  its  natural  fertility;  and  that  as  an  ar¬ 
gument  thereof,  all  the  plants  that  grow  of  their  own  accord, 
or  are  planted  by  the  hand,  whether  they  arrive  at  the  degree 
of  an  herb,  or  of  a  flower,  or  at  complete  maturity,  become 
black  and  empty,  and,  as  it  were,  vanish  into  ashes.  As  for 
myself,  as  I  am  willing  to  allow  that  these  once  famous  ci¬ 
ties  were  burnt  by  fire  from  heaven,  so  I  would  suppose  that 
the  earth  is  infected  with  the  vapour  ©f  the  lake,  and  the 
spirit  [or  air]  that  is  over  it  thereby  corrupted,  and  that  by 
this  means  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  both  corn  and  grapes  rot 
away,  both  the  soil  and  the  air  being  equally  unwholesome. 

The  river  Belus  does  also  run  into  the  sea  of  Judea;  and 
the  sands  that  are  collected  about  its  mouth,  when  you  mix  ni- 


*  Strabo  says,  that  a  man  could  not  sink  into  the  water  of  this  lake 
so  deep  as  the  navel. 

t  Josephus  never  says  (hat  this  bitumen  was  cast  out  at  a  certain 
lime  of  the  year  only;  and  Strabo  says  the  direct  contrary,  but  Pliny 
agrees  with  Tacitus. 

|  This  is  exactly  according  to  Josephus,  and  must  have  been  taken 
from  him  in  the  place  forecited,  and  particularly,  because  it  is  peculiar 
to  him,  so  far  as  1  know,  in  all  antiquity.  The  rest  thought  the  cities 
were  in  the  same  place  where  now  the  lake  is,  but  Josephus  and  Ta¬ 
citus  say  they  were  in  its  neighbourhood  only,  which  is  Mr.  Reload's 
opinion  also, 


DISSERTATION  III. 


54 

tre  with  them,  are  melted  into  glass :  this  sort  of  shore  is 
but  small,  but  its  sand,  for  the  use  of  those  that  carry  it  off, 
is  inexhaustible. 

Chap.  VIII.]  A  great  part  of  Judea  is  composed  of  scat¬ 
tered  villages;  it  also  has  large  towns :  Jerusalem  is  the  capi¬ 
tal  city  of  the  whole  nation.  In  that  city  there  was  a  temple 
of  immense  wealth  ;  in  the  first  parts  that  are  fortified  is  the 
city  itself,  next  it  the  royal  palace.  The  temple  is  enclosed 
in  its  most  inward  recesses.  A  Jew  can  come  no  further  than 
the  gates ;  all  but  the  priests  are  excluded  by  their  threshold. 
While  the  east  was  under  the  dominion  of  the  Assyrians,  the 
Medes,  and  the  Persians,  the  Jews  were  of  all  slaves  the  most 
despicable.* * 

f  After  the  dominion  of  the  Macedonians  prevailed,  king 
Antiochus  tried  to  conquer  their  superstition,  and  to  intro¬ 
duce  the  customs  of  the  Greeks ;  but  he  was  disappointed 
of  his  design,  which  was  to  give  this  most  profligate  nation  a 
change  for  the  better,  and  that  was  by  his  war  with  the  Parthi- 
ans,  for  at  this  time,  Arsaces  had  fallen  off  [from  the  Macedo¬ 
nians.]  Then  it  was  that  the  Jews  set  kings  over  them,  be¬ 
cause  the  Macedonians  were  become  weak,  the  Parthians 
were  not  yet  very  powerful,  and  the  Romans  were  very  re¬ 
mote  ;  which  kings,  when  they  had  been  expelled  by  the  no¬ 
bility  of  the  vulgar,  and  had  recovered  their  dominion  by  war, 
attempted  the  same  things  that  kings  used  to  do,  i  mean  they 
introduced  the  destruction  of  cities,  the  slaughter  of  brethren, 
of  wives,  and  parents,  but  still  went  on  in  their  superstition ; 
for  they  took  upon  them  withal  the  honourable  dignity  of  the 
high-priesthood,  as  a  firm  security  to  their  power  and  authority. 

Chap  IX.]  The  first  of  the  Romans  that  conquered  the 
Jews  was  Cneius  Pompeius,  who  entered  the  temple  by  right 
of  victory.  Thence  the  report  was  every  where  divulged, 
that  therein  was  no  image  of  a  God,  but  an  empty  place,  and 
mysteries,  most  secret  places  that  have  nothing  in  them. 
The  walls  of  Jerusalem  were  then  destroyed,  but  the  temple 
continued  still.  Soon  afterward  arose  a  civil  war  among  us  ; 
and  when  therein  these  provinces  were  reduced  under  Mar¬ 
cus  Antonius,  Pacorus,  king  of  the  Parthians,  got  possession 
of  Judea,  but  was  himself  slain  by  Paulus  Ventidius,  and  the 
Parthians  were  driven  beyond  Euphrates  :  and  for  the  Jews, 

" 1  ' 

*  A  great  slander  against  the  Jews,  without  any  just  foundation 
Josephus  would  have  informed  him  better. 

t  Here  begins  Josephus's  and  Tacitus's  true  accounts  of  the  Jews 
preliminary  to  the  last  war.  gee  of  the  War,  Proaem.  sec.  7.  vol.  v. 


DISSERTATION  III. 


Caius  Socius  subdued  them.  Antonius  gave  the  kingdom  to 
Herod  ;  and  when  Augustus  conquered  Antonius,  he  still 
augmented  it. 

After  Herod’s  death,  one  Simon,  without  waiting  for  the 
disposition  of  Ca;sar,  took  upon  him  the  title  of  King,  who 
w'as  brought  to  punishment  by  [or  under]  Quintilius  Varus, 
when  he  was  president  of  Syria.  Afterward  the  nation  was 
reduced,  and  the  children  of  Herod  governed  it  in  three  par¬ 
titions.  ~  • 

Under  Tiberius  the  Jews  had  rest.  After  some  time  they 
were  enjoined  to  place  Caius  Caesar’s  statue  in  the  temple; 
but  rather  than  permit  that,  they  took  up  arms  ;*  which  se¬ 
dition  was  put  an  end  to  by  the  death  of  Caesar. 

Claudius,  after  the  kings  were  either  dead,  or  reduced  to 
smaller  dominions,  gave  the  province  of  Judea  to  Roman 
knights,  or  to  freed  men,  to  be  governed  by  them.  Among 
whom  was  Antonius  Felix,  one  that  exercised  all  kind  of  bar¬ 
barity  and  extravagance,  as  if  he  had  royal  authority,  but  with 
the  disposition  of  a  slave.  He  had  married  Drusilla,  the 
grand-daughter  of  Antonius,  so  that  Felix  was  the  grand¬ 
daughter’s  husband,  and  Claudius  the  grand-son  of  the  same 
Antonius. 

ANNAL.  BOOK  XII. 

But  he  that  was  the  brother  of  Pallas,  whose  sirname  was 
Felix,  did  not  act  with  the  same  moderation,  [as  did  Pallas 
himself.]  He  had  been  a  good  while  ago  set  over  Judea,  and 
thought  that  he  might  be  guilty  of  all  sorts  of  wickedness 
with  impunity,  while  he  relied  on  so  sure  an  authority. 

The  Jews  had  almost  given  a  specimen  of  sedition;  and 
even  after  the  death  of  Caius  was  known,  and  they  had  not 
obeyed  his  command,  there  remained  a  degree  of  fear,  lest 
some  future  prince  should  renew  that  command,  [for  the  set¬ 
ting  up  of  the  prince’s  statue  in  their  temple.]  And,  in  the 
mean  time,  Felix,  by  the  use  of  unseasonable  remedies,  blew 
up  the  coals  of  sedition  into  a  flame,  and  was  imitated  by  his 
partner  in  the  government,  Ventidius  Cumanus,  the  countr\r 
being  thus  divided  between  them,  that  the  nation  of  the  Gali¬ 
leans  were  under  Cumanus,  and  the  Samaritans  under  Felix  ; 
which  two  nations  were  of  old  at  variance,  but  now  out  of 
contempt  of  their  governors,  did  less  restrain  their  hatred  : 

*  They  came  to  Petronius,  the  president  of  Syria,  in  vast  numbers, 
but  without  arms,  and  as  humble  supplicants  only.  See  Tacitus  pre>- 
sently,  where  he  afterwards  sets  this  matter  almost  right,  according  to 
Josephus,  and  hy  way  of  correction,  for  that  account  is  in  his  annals, 
which  were  written  after  this,  which  is  in  his  histories. 


56 


DISSERTATION  III. 


they  then  began  to  plunder  one  another,  to  send  in  parties  of 
robbers,  to  lie  in  wait,  and  sometimes  to  fight  battles,  and 
tvithal  to  bring  spoils  and  preys  to  the  proem  ators,  [Cumanus 
and  Felix.]  Whereupon  these  procurators  began  to  rejoice; 
yet  when  the  mischief  grew  considerable,  soldiers  were  sent 
to  quiet  them,  but  the  soldiers  were  killed  ;  and  the  province 
had  b^en  in  the  flame  of  war,  had  not  Quadratus,  the  presi¬ 
dent  of  Syria  afforded  his  assistance.  Nor  was  it  long  in 
dispute,  whether  the  Jews,  who  had  killed  the  soldiers  in  the 
mutiny,  should  be  put  to  death  :  it  was  agreed  they  should 
die ;  only  Cumanus  and  Felix  occasioned  a  delay,  for  Claudius, 
upon  hearing  the  causes  as  to  this  rebellion,  had  given  [Quad¬ 
ratus]  authority  to  determine  the  case,  even  as  to  the  procu¬ 
rators  themselves :  but  Quadratus  showed  Felix  among  the 
judges, and  took  him  into  hisseat  of  Judgment,  on  purpose  that 
he  might  discourage  his  accusers.  So  Cumanus  was  condemn¬ 
ed  for  those  flagitious  actions,  of  which  both  he,and  Felix 
had  been  guilty,  and  peace  was  restored  to  the  province.* 

HISTOR.  BOOK  V. - CHAP.  X. 

However,  the  Jews  had  patience  till  Gessius  Floras  was 
made  procurator.  Under  him  it  was  that  the  war  began. 
Then  Cestius  Gallus,  the  president  of  Syria,  attempted  to  ap¬ 
pease  it,  tried  several  battles,  but  generally  with  ill  success. 

Upon  his  death, f  whether  it  came  by  fate,  or  that  he  was 
weary  of  his  life,  is  uncertain,  Vespasian  had  the  good  fortune, 
by  his  reputation,  and  excellent  officers,  and  a  victorious  ar¬ 
my,  in  the  space  of  two  summers,  to  make  himself  master 
of  all  the  open  country,  and  of  all  the  cities,  Jerusalem  ex¬ 
cepted. 

[Flavius  Vespasianus,  whom  Nero  had  chosen  for  his  ge¬ 
neral,  managed  the  Jewish  war  with  three  legions,  Histor. 
B.  i.  chap,  x.] 

The  next  year,  which  was  employed  in  a  civil  war  [at 
jiome,]  so  far  as  the  Jews  were  concerned,  passed  over  in 
peace.  When  Italy  was  pacified,  the  care  of  foreign  parts 
was  revived.  The  Jews  were  the  only  people  that  stood  out, 
which  increased  the  rage  [of  the  Romans.]  It  was  also 
thought  most  proper  that  Titus  should  stay  with  the  army, 
to  prevent  any  accident  or  misfortune  which  the  new  govern¬ 
ment  might  be  liable  to. 

[Vespasian  had  put  an  end  to  the  Jewish  nation  :  the  siege 

*  Here  seems  to  be  a  great  mistake  about  the  Jewish  affairs  in  Taci¬ 
tus.  See  of  the  War,  B.  ii.  rap.  xii.  sec-  8  vol.  v. 

t  Josephus  says  nothing  of  the  death  of  Cestius;  so  Tacitus  seems  te 
iiavo  known  nothing  in  particular  about  it- 


DISSERTATION  III. 


57 

or  Jerusalem  was  the  only  enterprise  remaining,  which  was 
a  Work  hard  and  difficult,  but  rather  from  the  nature  of  the 
mountain,  and  the  obstinacy  of  the  Jewish  superstition,  than 
because  the  besieged  had  strength  enough  to  undergo  the  dis¬ 
tresses  [of  a  siege.]  We  have  already  informed  [the  read¬ 
er]  that  Vespasian  had  with  him  three  legions,  well  exer¬ 
cised  in  war.  Histor.  Book  ii.  chap,  v.] 

When  Vespasian  was  a  very  young  man,  it  was  promised 
him  that  he  should  arrive  at  the  highest  pitch  of  fame:  but: 
what  did  first  of  all  seem  to  confirm  the  omen,  was  his  tri¬ 
umphs  and  consulship,  and  the  glory  of  his  victories  over  the 
Jews.  ,  When  he  had  once  obtained  these,  he  believed  it  wa$ 
portended  that  he  should  come  to  the  empire.* 

There  is  between  Judea  and  Syria  a  mountain  and  a  god, 
both  called  by  the  same  name  of  Carmel ,  though  our  prede¬ 
cessors  have  informed  us  that  this  god  had  no  image,  and  no 
temple,  and  indeed  no  more  than  an  altar  and  solemn  wor¬ 
ship.  Vespasian  was  once  offering  a  sacr  fiee  there,  at  a  time 
when  he  had  some  secret  thought  in  his  mind  :  the  priest, 
whose  name  was  Basilides ,  when  he  over  and  over  looked  at 
the  entrails,  said,  Vespasian,  whatever  thou  art  about,  whe¬ 
ther  the  building  of  thy  house,  or  enlargement  of  thy  lands, 
or  augmentation  of  thy  slaves,  thou  art  granted  a  mighty  seat, 
very  large  bounds,  an  huge  number  of  men.  These  doubt¬ 
ful  answers  were  soon  spread  abroad  bv  fame,  and  at  this 
time  were  explained:  nor  was  any  thing  so  much  in  public 
vogue,  and  very  many  discourses  of  that  nature  were  made 
before  him,  and  the  more  because  they  foretold  what  he 
expected. 

Mucianus  and  Vespasianus  went  away,  having  fully-  agreed 
on  their  designs  ;  the  former  to  Antioch,  the  latter  to  Caesa- 
rea.  Antioch  is  the  capital  of  Syria,  and  Caesarea  the  capi¬ 
tal  of  Judea.  The  commencement  of  Vespasian’s  advance¬ 
ment  to  the  empire  was  at  Alexandria,  where  Tiberius  Al¬ 
exander  made  such  haste,  that  he  obliged  the  legions  to  take 
the  oath  of  fidelity  to  him  on  the  kalends  of  July,  which  was 
ever  after  celebrated  as  the  day  of  his  inauguration,  f  although 

*  Josephus  takes  notice  in  general  of  these  nia  v  --mens  ot  Vespa- 
sian’s  advancement  to  the  empire  and  distinctly  adds  his  own  remark 
able  prediction  of  it  also  Aatiq,  B.  iii  cap.  viii.  sec.  3,  9. 

t  this  although  seems  to  imply  that  Vespasian  was  proclaimed  em¬ 
peror  in  Judea  before  he  was  so  proclaimed  at  Alexandria,  as  the  whole 
history  of  Josephus  implies,  and  the  place  where  now  Vespasian  was, 
which  was  no  other  than  Judea,  requires  also,  though  the  inauguration 
day  alight  he  celebrated  afterward  from  his  first  proclamation  al  the 
great  city  Alexandria,  only  then  the  nones  or  ides  in  Tacitus  and  Sueto- 
jiius  must  be  of  June,  and  not  of  July. 


58 


DISSERTATION  III. 


the  army  in  Judea  had  taken  that  oath  on  the  fifth  of  the 
nones  of  July,  with  that  eagerness,  that  they  would  not  stay 
for  his  son  Titus,  who  was  then  on  the  road,  returning  out  of 
Syria.  Chap,  lxxix.  Vespasian  delivered  over  the  strongest 
part  of  his  forces  to  Titus,  to  enable  him  to  finish  what  re¬ 
mained  of  the  Jewish  war.  Hist.  Book  iv.  chap,  li. 

During  those  months  in  which  Vespasian  continued  at  Al¬ 
exandria,  waiting  for  the  usual  set  time  of  the  summer  gales 
of  wind,  and  stayed  for  settled  fair  weather  at  sea,  many  mi¬ 
raculous  events  happened,  by  which  the  good  will  of  heaven, 
and  a  kind  of  inclination  of  the  Deity  in  his  favour  was  de¬ 
clared. 

A  certain  man  of  the  vulgar  sort  at  Alexandria,  well  known 
for  the  decay  of  his  eyes,  kneeled  down  by  him,  and  groaned, 
and  begged  of  him  the  cure  of  his  blindness,  as  by  the  ad¬ 
monition  of  Serapis,  that  God  which  this  superstitious  nation 
worships  above  others.  He  also  desired  that  the  emperor 
Would  be  pleased  to  put  some  of  his  spittle  upon  the  balls  of 
his  eyes.  Another  infirm  man  there,  who  was  lame  of  his 
hand,  prayed  Caesar  as  by  the  same  god’s  suggestion,  to  tread 
upon  him  with  his  foot.  Vespasian  at  first  began  to  laugh 
at  them,  and  to  reject  them;  and  when  they  were  instant 
with  him,  he  sometimes  feared  he  should  have  the  reputation 
of  a  vain  person,  and  sometimes  upon  the  solicitation  of  the 
infirm,  he  flattered  himself,  and  others  flattered  him  with  the 
hopes  of  succeeding.  At  last  he  ordered  the  physicians  to 
give  their  opinion,  whether  this  sort  of  blindness  and  lame¬ 
ness  were  curable  by  the  art  of  man  or  not?  The  physicians 
answered  uncertainly,  that  the  one  had  not  his  visual  faculty 
utterly  destroyed,  and  that  it  might  be  restored,  if  the  obsta¬ 
cles  were  removed ;  that  the  other’s  limbs  were  disordered, 
but  if  an  healing  virtue  were  made  use  of,  they  were  capable 
of  being  made  whole.  Perhaps,  said  they,  the  gods  are  wil¬ 
ling  to  assist,  and  that  the  emperor  is  chosen  by  divine  interpo¬ 
sition  ;  however,  they  said  at  last  that  if  the  cures  succeed, 
Caesar  would  have  the  glory ;  if  not,  the  poor  miserable  objects 
would  only  be  laughed  at.  Whereupon  Vespasian  imagined, 
that  his  good  fortune  would  be  universal,  and  that  nothing  on 
that  account  could  be  incredible,  so  he  looked  cheerfully, 
and  in  the  sight  of  the  multitude,  who  stood  in  great  expect¬ 
ation,  he  did  what  they  desired  him  :  upon  which  the  lame 
hand  was  recovered,  and  the  blind  man  saw  immediately. 
Both  these  #cures  are  related  to  this  day  by  those  that  were 
present,  and  when  speaking  falsely  will  get  no  reward. 

*  The  miraculous  cures  done  by  Vespasian  are  attested  to  both  by 
Suetonius  in  Vespasian,  sec.  7,  and  by  Dio,  p.  217,  and  seem  to  me  well 


DISSERTATION  III. 


59 


BOOK  V. - CnAP.  I. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  same  year,  Titus  Caesar,  who  was 
pitched  upon  by  his  father  to  finish  the  conquest  of  Judea, 
and  while  both  he  and  his  father  were  private  persons,  was 
celebrated  for  his  marshal  conduct,  acted  now  with  greater 
vigour  and  hopes  of  reputation,  the  kind  inclinations  both  of 
the  provinces  and  of  the  armies  striving  one  with  another  who 
should  most  encourage  him.  He  was  also  himself  in  a  dis¬ 
position  to  show  that  he  was  more  than  equal  to  his  fortune  5 
and  when  he  appeared  in  arms,  he  did  all  things  after  such 
a  ready  and  graceful  way,  treating  all  after  such  an  affable 
manner,  and  with  such  kind  words,  as  invited  the  good-will 
and  good  wishes  of  all.  He  appeared  also  in  his  actions  and 
in  his  place  in  the  troops  ;  he  mixed  with  common  soldiers, 
yet  without  any  stain  to  his  honour  as  a  general.* *  He  was 
received  in  Judea  by  three  legions,  the  fifth  and  the  tenth, 
and  the  fifteenth,  who  were  Vespasian’s  old  soldiers.  Syria 
also  afforded  him  the  twelfth,  and  Alexandria  soldiers  out  of 
the  twenty-second  and  twenty-third  legions.  Twenty  f co¬ 
horts  of  auxiliaries  accompanied,  as  also  eight  troops  of  horse. 

King  Agrippa  also  was  there,  and  king  Sohemus,  and  the 
auxiliaries  of  king  Antiochus,  and  a  strong  body  of  Arabians, 
who,  as  is  usual  in  nations  that  are  neighbours  to  one  an¬ 
other,  went  with  their  accustomed  hatred  against  the  Jews, 
with  many  other  out  of  the  city  of  Rome,  as  every  one’s 
hopes  led  him  of  getting  early  into  the  generals  favour,  be¬ 
fore  others  should  prevent  them. 

He  entered  into  the  borders  of  the  enemies  country  with 
these  forces,  in  exact  order  of  war :  and  looking  carefully 


attested.  Our  Saviour  seems  to  have  over-ruled  the  heathen  oracle  of 
Serapis  to  procure  (he  divine  approbation  to  Vespasian’s  advancement  to 
the  empire  of  Rome,  as  he  suggested  the  like  approbation  to  the  advance¬ 
ment  both  of  Vespasian  and  Titus  to  Josephus,  which  two  were  to  be 
his  chosen  instruments  in  bringing  on  that  terrible  destruction  upon  the 
Jewish  nation,  which  he  had  threatened  to  execute  by  these  Roman  ar¬ 
mies.  Nor  could  any  other  Roman  generals  than  Vespasian  and  Titus, 
at  that  time,  in  human  probability,  have  prevailed  over  the  Jews  and 
destroyed  Jerusalem,  as  this  wholehistory  in  Josephus  implies  Josephus 
also  every  where  supposes  Vespasian  and  Titus  raised  up  to  command 
against  Judea  a»d  Jerusalem,  and  to  govern  the  Roman  empire  by  di¬ 
vine  providence,  and  not  in  the  ordinary  way  :  as  also  he  always  sup¬ 
poses  this  destruction  a  divine  judgment  on  the  Jews  for  their  sins. 

*  This  character  of  Titus  agrees  exactly  with  the  history  of  Josephus 
upon  all  occasions. 

t  These  20  cohorts,  and  8  troops  of  horse,  are  not  directly  enumerat 
ed  by  Josephus.  Antiq.  B.  v.  cap.  i.  sec.  6. 

1 

■ 


60 


DISSERTATION  III. 


about  him,  and  being  ready  for  battle,  he  pitched  his  camp 
not  far  from  Jerusalem. 

Chap.  N.]  When  therefore  he  had  pitched  his  camp,  as 
we  said  just  now  before  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  he  pompous-  ' 
ly  #showed  his  legions  ready  for  an  engagement. 

Chap.  XI.]  The  Jews  formed  their  camp  under  the  very 
f  walls  [of  the  city  ;]  and  if  they  succeeded,  they  resolved  to 
venture  farther,  but  if  they  were  beaten  back,  that  was  their 
place  of  refuge.  When  a  body  of  ^cavalry  were  sent  against 
them,  and  with  them  cohorts,  that  were  expedite  and  nim¬ 
ble,  the  fight  was  doubtful;  but  som  afterwards  the  enemies 
gave  ground,  and  on  the  following  days  there  were  frequent 
skirmishes  before  the  gates,  till  after  many  losses  they  were 
driven  into  the  city.  The  Romans  then  betook  themselves 
to  the  siege,  for  it  did  not  seem  honourable  to  stay  till  the 
enemies  were  reduced  by  famine.^  The  soldiers  were  very 
eager  to  expose  themselves  to  dangers,  part  of  them  out  of 
true  valour,  many  out  of  a  brutish  fierceness,  and  out  of  a 
desire  of  rewards. 

Titus  had  Rome,  and  the  riches  and  pleasures  of  it  before 
his  eyes,  all  which  seemed  to  be  too  long  delayed,  unless  Je¬ 
rusalem  could  be  soon  destroyed. 

The  city  stood  on  an  high  elevation,  and  it  had  great 
works,  and  ramparts  to  secure  it,  such  indeed  as  were  suffi¬ 
cient  for  its  fortifications,  had  it  been  on  plain  ground,  for 
here  were  two  hills  of  a  vast  height,  which  were  enclosed 
by  walls  made  crooked  by  art,  or  [naturally]  bending  inwards, 
that  they  might  flank  the  besiegers,  and  cast  darts  on  them 
sideways.  The  extreme  parts  of  the  rock  were  craggy,  and 
the  towers,  when  they  had  the  advantage  of  the  ground,  were 
60  feet  high  :  when  they  were  built  on  the  plain  ground  they 
were  not  built  lower  than  120  feet :  they  were  of  uncommon 
beauty",  and  to  those  who  looked  at  them  at  a  great  distance, 


4  This  word  in  Tacitus,  pompously  showed  his  legions,  look  as  if  that 
pompous  show  which  was  some  months  afterwards,  in  Josephus,  ran 
in  his  mind.  Antiq.  B.  v.  cap.  ix.  sec.  1. 

t  These  first  bickerings  and  battles  near  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  are 
at  large  in  Josephus.  Antiq.  B.  v.  cap.  ii. 

t  Josephus  distinctly  mentions  these  horsemen  of  cavalry,  600  in 
number,  among  whom  Titus  had  like  to  have  been  slain  or  taken  pri¬ 
soner.  Antiq.  B.  v.  cap.  ii.  sec.  1 — 3. 

§  Such  a  deliberation  and  resolution,  with  this  very  reason,  that  it 
would  be  dishonourable  to  stay  till  the  Jews  were  starved  out  by  fam¬ 
ine,  is  in  Josephus.  Antiq.  B.  v.  cap.  xii.  see.  1. 


DISSERTATION  III. 


Cl 


they  seemed  equal.* * * §  Other  walls  there  were  beneath  the 
royal  palace,  besides  the  tower  of  Antonia,  with  its  top  par¬ 
ticularly  conspicuous.  It  was  called  so  by  Herod,  in  honour 
of  Marcus  Antonius. 

Chap.  XII.]  The  temple  was  like  a  citadel,  having  walls 
of  its  own,  which  had  more  labour  and  pains  bestowed  on 
them  than  the  rest.  The  cloisters  wherewith  the  temple  was 
enclosed  were  an  excellent  fortification. 

They  had  a  fountain  of  water  that  ran  perpetually  ;  and 
the  mountains  were  hollowed  underground  ;  they  had  more- 
overt  pools  and  cisterns  for  the  preservation  of  the  rain  wa¬ 
ter. 

They  that  built  this  city  foresaw,  that  from  the  difference 
of  their  conduct  of  life  from  their  neighbours,  they  should 
have  frequent  wars  ;  thence  it  came  to  pass  that  they  had 
provision  for  a  long  siege.  After  Pompey’s  conquest  also, 
their  fear  and  experience  had  taught  them  generally  what  they 
should  want.]; 

Moreover,  the  covetous  temper  that  prevailed  under  Clau¬ 
dius,  gave  the  Jews  an  opportunity  of  purchasing  for  money 
§leave  to  fortify  Jerusalem  ;  so  they  built  walls  in  time  of 
peace,  as  if  they  were  going  to  war,  they  being  augmented  in 
number  by  those  rude  multitudes  of  people  that  retired  thither 
on  the  ruin  of  the  other  cities,  for  every  obstinate  fellow  ran 
away  thither,  and  there  became  more  seditious  than  before. 

There  were  three  captains,  and  as  many  armies.  Simon 
had  the  remotest  and  the  largest  parts  of  the  walls  under  him. 
John,  who  was  also  called  Bar  Gioras,  [the  son  of  Gioras,] 
had  the  middle  parts  of  the  city  under  him  :  and  Eleazar  had 


*  This  description  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  its  two  hills,  its  three 
walls,  and  four  towers,  fee.  are  in  this  place  at  large  in  Josephus.  An- 
tiq.  B  v.  cap.  iv  See  also  Pompey’s  Siege.  B.  xiv.  Gap.  iv.  sec.  2. 

t  Of  these  pools,  see  Josephus,  B.  v.  cap.  xi.  sec.  4.  The  cisterns 
are  not  mentioned  by  him  here,  though  they  be  mentioned  by  travel¬ 
lers.  See  Reland’s  Palestine,  tom  i.  p.  304. 

$  This  is  Tacitus’s  or  the  Romans’  own  hypothesis,  unsupported  by 
Josephus. 

§  This  sale  of  leave  for  the  Jews  to  build  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  for 
money,  is  also  Tacitus’s  or  the  Romans’  own  hypothesis,  unsupported 
by  Josephus.  Nor  is  Josephus’s  character  of  Claudius  near  so  bad,  ae 
to  other  things  also,  as  it  is  in  Tacitus  and  Suetonius.  Dio  says,  he  was 
far  from  covetousness  in  particular.  The  others  seems  to  have  misre¬ 
presented  his  meek  and  quiet  temper,  and  learning,  but  without  ambi¬ 
tion,  and  his  great  kindness  to  the  Jews,  as  the  most  contemptible  folly. 
See  Antiq.  B.  six  cap.  ix.  sec.  4.  He  was  indeed  much  ruled  at  first 
by  a  very  bad  minister,  Pallas ;  and  at  last  was  ruled  and  poisoned  by  a 
very  bad  wife,  Agrippina. 

VOL.  1. 


F 


DISSERTATION  III. 


m 

fortified  the  temple  itself.  John  and  Simon  were  superior  in 
multitude  and  strength  of  arms,  Eleazar  was  superior  by  his 
situation  ;  but  battles,  factions,  and  burning,  were  common 
to  them  all ;  and  a  great  quantity  of  corn  was  consumed  by 
fire.  After  a  while,  John  sent  some,  who,  under  the  pre¬ 
tence  of  offering  sacrifice,  might  slay  Eleazar  and  his  body 
of  troops,  which  they  did,  and  got  the  temple  under  their 
power.  So  the  city  now  was  parted  into  two  factions,  until, 
upon  the  coming  of  the  Romans,  this  war  abroad  produced 
peace  between  those  that  were  at  home. 

Chap.  X1IL]  Such*  prodigies  had  happened  as  this  na¬ 
tion,  which  is  superstitious  enough  in  its  own  way,  would 
not  agree  to  expiate  by  the  ceremonies  of  the  Roman  reli¬ 
gion,  nor  would  they  atone  the  gods  by  sacrifices  and  vows, 
as  these  used  to  do  on  the  like  occasions.  Armies  were  seen 
to  fight  in  the  sky,  and  their  armour  looked  of  a  bright  light 
colour,  and  the  temple  shone  with  sudden  flashes  of  fire  out 
of  the  clouds.  The  doors  of  the  temple  svere  opened  on  a 
sudden,  and  a  voice  greater  than  human  was  heard,  that  the 
gods  were  retiring,  and  at  the  same  time  was  there  a  great 
motion  perceived,  as  if  they  were  going  out  of  it,  which  some 
esteemed  to  be  causes  of  terror.  The  greater  part  had  a 
firm  belief  that  it  was  contained  in  the  old  sacerdotal  books, 
that  at  this  very  time  the  east  would  prevail,  and  that  some 
that  came  out  of  Judea  should  obtain  the  empire  of  the  world, 
which  obscure  oracle  foretold  Vespasian  and  Titus  ;  but  the 
generality  of  the  common  people,  as  usual,  indulged  their  own 
inclinations,  and  when  they  had  once  interpreted  all  to  fore¬ 
bode  grandeur  to  themselves,  adversitjr  itself  could  not  per¬ 
suade  them  to  change  their  minds,  though  it  were  from  false¬ 
hood  to  truth.f 

We  have  been  informed,  that  the  number  of  the  besieged, 
of  every  age,  and  of  both  sexes,  male  and  female,  was  six 
hundred  thousand. J  There  were  weapons  for  all  that  could 
carry  them,  and  more  than  could  be  expected,  for  their  num¬ 
ber  were  bold  enough  to  do  so.  The  men  and  the  women 
were  equally  obstinate  ;  and  when  they  supposed  they  were 

*  These  prodigies,  and  more,  are  at  large  in  Josephus.  Antiq.  B.  vi. 
cap.  v  sec.  3. 

t  This  interpretation  and  reflections  are  in  Josephus.  Antiq.  B.  vi 
cap.  v  sec  4.  vol.  ii. 

t  The  number  600,000  for  the  besieged  is  no  where  in  Josephus,  but 
is  there  for  the  poor  buried  at  the  public  charge,  Antiq.  B.  v.  cap.  xiii 
sec  7.  which  might  be  about  the  number  of  the  besieged,  under  Cestius 
Galbis,  though  they  were  many  more  afterwards  at  Titus’s  siege,  as 
Josephus  implies.  Antiq.  B.  vi.  cap  is.  sec.  3. 


DISSERTATION  III.  63 

to  be  carried  captive,  they  were  more  afraid  of  life  than  of 
death. 

Against  this  city  and  nation  Titus  Caesar  resolved  to  fight 
by  ramparts  and  ditches,  since  the  situation  of  the  place  did 
not  admit  of  taking  it  by  storm  or  surprise.  He  parted  the 
duty  among  the  legions  ;  and  there  were  no  farther  engage¬ 
ments,  until  whatever  had  been  invented  for  the  taking  of 
cities  by  the  ancients,  or  by  the  ingenuity  of  the  moderns, 
was  got  ready. 

ANNAL.  BOOK  XV. 

Nero,  in  order  to  stifle  the  rumour,  [as  if  he  had  himself 
set  Rome  on  fire,]  ascribed  it  to  those  people  who  were  hated 
for  their  wicked  practices,  and  called  by  the  vulgar  Chris¬ 
tians  ;  these  he  punished  exquisitely.  The  author  of  this 
name  was  Christ,  who  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius  was  brought 
to  punishment  by  Pontius  Pilate  the  procurator.*  For  the 
present  this  pernicious  superstition  was  in  part  suppressed, 
but  it  brake  out  again,  not  only  over  Judea,  whence  this  mis¬ 
chief  first  sprang,  but  in  the  city  of  Rome  also,  whither  do 
run  from  every  quarter  and  make  a  noise,  all  the  flagrant  and 
shameful  enormities.  At  first  therefore,  those  were  seized 
who  confessed,  afterwards  a  vast  multitude  were  detected  by 
them,  and  were  convicted,  not  so  much  as  really  guilty  of 
setting  the  city  on  fire,  but  as  hating  all  mankind  ;  nay,  they 
made  a  mock  of  them  as  they  perished,  and  destroyed  them 
by  putting  them  into  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  and  setting  dogs 
upon  them  to  tear  them  to  pieces.  Some  were  nailed  to 
crosses,  and  others  flamed  to  death  :  they  were  also  used  in 
the  night-time  instead  of  torches,  for  illumination.  Nero  had 
offered  his  own  gardens  for  this  spectacle.  He  also  gave 
them  Circensian  games,  and  dressed  himself  like  the  driver  of 
a  chariot,  sometimes  appearing  among  the  common  people, 
sometimes  in  the  circle  itself ;  whence  a  commiseration  arose, 
though  the  punishments  were  levelled  at  guilty  per.  ^s,  and 
such  as  deserved  to  be  made  the  most  flagrant  examples,  as  if 
these  people  were  destroyed,  not  for  the  public  advantage, 
but  to  satisfy  the  barbarous  humour  of  one  man. 

N.  B.  Since  I  have  set  down  all  the  vile  calumnies  of  Ta¬ 
citus  upon  the  Christians  as  well  as  the  Jews,  it  will  be  pro¬ 
per,  before  I  come  to  my  observations,  to  set  down  two  hea- 


*  This  passage  seems  to  have  been  directly  taken  from  Josephus’s  fa¬ 
mous  testimony  concerning  Christ,  and  the  Christians.  Antic]-  B.  xviii. 
cap.  iii.  sec.  3,  vol.  iv.  of  which  Dissert.  I.  before. 


64  DISSERTATION  III. 

then  records  in  their  favour,  and  those  hardly  inferior  in  an¬ 
tiquity ,  and  of  much  greater  authority  than  Tacitus,  I  mean 
Pliny’s  epistle  to  Trajan  when  he  was  proconsul  of  Bithy- 
nia,  with  Trajan’s  answer  or  rescript  to  Pliny,  cited  by  Ter- 
tullian,  Eusebius,  and  Jerom.  These  are  records  of  so  great, 
esteem  with  Havercamp,  the  last  editor  of  Josephus,  that  he. 
thinks  they  not  only  deserve  to  be  read,  but  almost  to  be  lear¬ 
ned  by  heart  also. 

PLINY’S  EPISTLE  TO  TRAJAN. 

About  A.  D.  112. 

Sir, 

It  is  my  constant  method  to  apply  myself  to  you  for  the 
resolution  of  all  my  doubts,  for  who  can  better  govern  my 
dilatory  way  of  proceeding,  or  instruct  my  ignorance  ?  I  have 
never  been  present  at  the  examination  of  the  Christians  [by 
others,]  on  which  account  I  am  unacquainted  with  what  uses 
to  be  inquired  into,  and  what  and  how  far  they  used  to  be  pu¬ 
nished  :  nor  are  my  doubts  small,  whether  there  be  not  a  dis¬ 
tinction  to  be  made  between  the  ages  [of  the  accused,]  and 
whether  tender  youth  ought  to  have  the  same  punishment 
with  strong  men  ?  whether  there  be  not  room  for  pardon 
upon  repentance  ?*  or  whether  it  may  not  be  an  advantage 
to  one  that  had  been  a  Christian,  that  he  has  forsaken  Chris¬ 
tianity  ?  whether  the  bare  name,t  without  any  crimes  be¬ 
sides,  or  the  crimes  adhering  to  that  name,  be  to  be  punished? 
In  the  mean  time,  I  have  taken  this  course  about  those  who 
have  been  brought  before  me  as  Christians.  I  asked  them, 
whether  they  were  Christians  or  not  ?  If  they  confessed 
that  they  were  Christians,  I  asked  them'  again,  and  a  third 
time,  intermixing  threatenings  with  the  questions  :  if  they 
persevered  in  their  confession,  I  ordered  them  to  be  executed  ;f 
for  I  did  not  doubt  but,  let  their  confession  be  of  any  sort 
whatsoever,  this  positiveness  and  inflexible  obstinacy  deserv¬ 
ed  to  be  punished.  There  have  been  some  of  this  mad  sect 

whom  I  took  notice  of  in  particular  as  Roman  citizens,  that 

.  _  .  .  .  -  -  - -* 

*  Till  now  it  seems  repentance  was  not  commonly  allowed  those 
that  had  been  once  Christians,  but  though  they  recanted,  and  returned 
to  idolatry,  yet  were  they  commonly  put  to  death.  This  was  persecti' 
lion  in  perfection ! 

>  t  This  was  the  just  and  heavy  complaint  of  the  ancient  Christians, 
that  they  commonly  suffered  for  that  bare  name  without  the  pretence 
of  any  crimes  they  could  prove  against  them.  This  was  also  persecu* 
lion  in  perfection ! 

t  Amazing  doctrine!  that  a  firm  and  fixed  resolution  of  keeping  a 
good  conscience  should  be  thought  without  dispute  to  deserve  death, 
and  this  by  such  comparatively  excellent  heathens  as  Pliny  and  Trajan, 


DISSERTATION  III. 


65 


they  might  be  sent  to  that  city.*  After  some  time,  as  is  usu¬ 
al  in  such  examinations,  the  crime  spread  itself  and  many 
more  cases  came  before  me.  A  libel  was  sent  me,  though 
without  an  author,  containing  many  names  [of  persons  accu¬ 
sed.]  These  denied  that  they  were  Christians  now,  or  ever 
had  been.  They  called  upon  the  gods,  and  supplicated  to 
yourt  image,  which  I  caused  to  be  brought  before  me  for 
that  purpose,  with  frankincense  and  wine  :  they  alsoi;  cursed 
Christ :  none  of  which  things,  as  it  is  said,  can  any  of  those 
that  are  really  Christians  be  compelled  to  do  ;  so  I  thought 
lit  to  let  them  go.  Others  of  them  that  were  named  in  the 
libel,  said  they  were  Christians,  but  presently  denied  it  again, 
that  indeed  they  had  been  Christians,  but  had  ceased  to  be 
so  some  three  years,  some  many  more  ;  and  one  there  was 
that  said,  he  had  not  been  so  these  twenty  years.  All  these 
worshipped  your  image,  and  the  images  of  our  gods  :  these 
also  cursed  Christ.  However,  they  assured  me,  that  the 
main  of  their  fault,  or  of  their  mistake,  was  this,  that  they 
were  wont,  on  a  stated  day,  to  meet  together  before  it  was 
light,  and  to  sing  a  hymn  to  Christ,  as  to  a  god,  alternat  ely } 
and  to  oblige  themselves  by  a  sacrament  [or  oath,]  not  to  do 
any  thing  that  was  ill,  but  that  they  would  commit  no  theft, 
■or  pilfering,  or  adultery  ;  that  they  would  not  break  their 
promises,  or  deny  what  was  deposited  with  them,  when  it  was 
required  back  again  :  after  which  it  was  their  custom  to  de¬ 
part,  and  to  meet  again  at  a  common  but  innocent^  meal, 
which  yet  they  had  left  off  upon  that  edict  which  I  published 
at  your  command,  and  wherein  I  had  forbidden  any  such 
conventicles.  These  examinations  made  me  think  it  neces¬ 
sary  to  inquire  by  torments,  what  the  truth  was,  which  I  did 
of  two  servant-maids,  which  were  called  deaconesses  ;  but 
still  I  discovered  no  more,  than  that  they  were  addicted  to  a 
bad,  and  to  an  extravagant  superstition.  Hereupon  I  have 
put  off  any  farther  examinations,  and  have  recourse  to  you, 
for  the  affair  seems  to  be  well  worth  consultation,  especially 

*  This  was  the  case  of  St.  Paul,  who  being  a  citizen  ot  Rome  was 
allowed  to  appeal  unto  Casar,  and  was  sent  to  Rome  accordingly.  Acts 
xxii.  25 — 26.  xxv.  25-  sxvi.  32.  xxvii.  24. 

t  Amazing  stupidity  !  that  the  emperor's  image,  even  while  he  was 
alive,  should  be  allowed  capable  of  divine  worship,  even  by  such  com¬ 
paratively  excellent  heathens  as  Pliny  and  Trajan  ! 

f  Take  here  a  parallel  account  of  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp,  sec.  9. 
The  proconsul  said,  “Reproach  Christ.”  Polycarp  replied,  “  Eighty 
and  six  years  have  l  now  served  Christ,  and  he  lias  never  done  me  the 
ft.ast  wrong,  how  then  cau  I  blaspheme  my  King,  and  my  Saviour:” 

}  This  must  most  probably  be  the  feast  of  charity . 

F  % 


66 


DISSERTATION  III. 


on  account  of  the*  number  of  those  that  are  in  danger  ;  for 
there  are  many  of  every  age,  of  every  rank,  and  of  both  sex¬ 
es,  which  are  now  and  hereafter  likely  to  be  called  to  account, 
and  to  be  in  danger,  for  this  superstition  is  spread  like  a  con¬ 
tagion,  not  only  in  cities  and  towns,  but  in  country  villages 
also,  which  yet  there  is  reason  to  hope  may  be  stopped  and 
corrected.  To  be  sure,  the  temples,  which  were  almost  for¬ 
saken,  begin  already  to  be  frequented  ;  and,  the  holy  solem¬ 
nities,  which  were  long  intermitted,  begin,  to  be  revived. 
The  sacrifices  begin  to  sell  well  every  where,  of  which  very 
few  purchasers  had  of  late  appeared  ;  whereby  it  is  easy  to 
suppose  how  great  a  multitude  of  men  may  be  amended,  if 
place  for  repentance  be  admitted. 

TRAJAN’S  EPISTLE  TO  PLINY. 

My  Pliny,  you  have  taken  the  method  which  you  ought, 
in  examining  the  causes  of  those  that  had  been  accused  as 
Christians,  for  indeed  no  certain  and  general  form  of  judging 
can  be  ordained  in  this  case.  These  people  are  not  to  be 
sought  for  ;  but  if  they  be  accused,  and  convicted,  they  are 
to  be  punished,  but  with  this  caution,  that  he  who  denies  him¬ 
self  to  be  a  Christian,  and  makes  it  plain  that  he  is  not  so  by 
supplicating  to  our  gods,  although  he  had  been  so  formerly, 
may  be  allowed  pardon,  upon  his  repentance.  As  for  libels 
sent  without  an  author,  they  ought  to  have  no  place  in  any  ac¬ 
cusation  whatsoever,  for  that  would  be  a  thing  of  very  ill  ex¬ 
ample,  and  not  agreeable  to  my  reign. 

OBSERVATIONS 

UPON  THE  PASSAGES  TAKEN  OUT  OP  TACITUS. 

I.  We  see  here  what  great  regard  the  best  of  the  Roman 
historians  of  that  age,  Tacitus,  had  to  the  history  of  Josephus, 
while,  though  he  never  names  him,  as  he  very  rarely  names 
any  of  those  Roman  authors,  whence  he  derives  other  parts 
of  his  history,  yet  does  it  appear  that  he  refers  to  his  Seven 
Books  of  the  Jewish  Wars,  several  times  in  a  very  few  pages, 
and  almost  always  depends  on  his  accounts  of  the  affairs  of 
the  Romans  and  Parthians,  as  well  as  of  the  Jews,  during  no 
fewer  than  240  years,  to  which  those  books  extend. 

..  ”  Some  of  late  are  very  loth  to  believe  that  the  Christians  were  nu¬ 
merous  in  the  second  century  ;  but  this  is  such  an  evidence  that  they 
were  very  numerous,  at  least  in  Bithynia,  even  in  the  beginning  of  that 
century,  as  is  wholly  undeniable. 


DISSERTATION  III. 


67 

II.  Yet  does  it  appear  that  when  he  now  and  then  followed 
other  historians  or  reports  concerning  the  Romans,  the  Par- 
thians,  or  the  Jews,  during  that  long  interval,  he  was  com¬ 
monly  mistaken  in  them,  and  had  better  have  kept  close  to 
Josephus,  than  hearken  to  any  of  his  other  authors  or  infor¬ 
mers. 

III.  It  also  appears  highly’-  probable  that  Tacitus  had  seen 
the  Antiquities  of  Josephus,  and  knew  that  the  most  part  of 
the  accounts  he  produced  of  the  origin  of  the  Jewish  nation 
entiiely  contradicted  those  Antiquities.  He  also  could  hard¬ 
ly  avoid  seeing  that  those  accounts  contradicted  one  another 
also,  and  were  childish,  absurd  and  supported  by  no  good  evi¬ 
dence  whatsoever  :  as  also  he  could  hardly  avoid  seeing  that 
Josephus’s  accounts  in  those  antiquities  were  authentic, 
substantial,  and  thoroughly  attested  to  by  the  ancient  records 
of  the  nation,  and  of  the  neighbouring  nations,  which  indeed 
no  one  can  now  avoid  seeing,  that  carefully  peruses  and  con¬ 
siders  them. 

IV.  Tacitus  therefore,  in  concealing  the  greatest  part  of 
the  true  ancient  history  of  the  Jewish  nation,  which  lay  be¬ 
fore  him  in  Josephus,  and  producing  such  fabulous,  ill-ground¬ 
ed,  and  partial  histories,  which  he  had  from  the  heathens, 
acted  a  most  unfair  part  :  and  this  procedure  of  his  is  here 
the  more  gross,  in  regard  he  professed  such  great  impartiality. 
Hist.  B.  i.  cap.  i.  and  is  allowed  to  have  observed  that  impar¬ 
tiality  in  the  Roman  affairs  also. 

V.  Tacitus’s  hatred  and  contempt  of  God’s  peculiar  peo¬ 
ple,  the  Jews,  and  his  attachment  to  the  grossest  idolatry,  su¬ 
perstition,  and  astral  fatality  of  the  Romans,  were  therefore 
so  strong  in  him,  as  to  overbear  all  restraints  of  sober  reason 
and  equity  in  the  case  of  those  Jews,  though  he  be  allowed  so 
exactly  to  have  followed  them  on  other  occasions  relating  to 
the  Romans. 

VI.  Since  therefore  Tacitus  was  so  bitter  against  the  Jews 
and  since  he  knew  that  Christ  was  a  Jew  himself,  and  that 
his  apostles  and  first  followers  were  Jew's,  and  also  knew  that 
the  Christian  religion  was  derived  into  the  Roman  provinces 
from  Judea,  it  is  no  wonder  that  this  hatred  and  contempt  of 
the  Jews  extended  itself  to  the  Christians  also,  whom  the 
Romans  usually  confounded  with  the  Jews  :  as  therefore  his 
hard  words  of  the  Jews  appear  to  have  been  generally  ground¬ 
less,  and  hurt  his  own  reputation,  instead  of  theirs,  so  ought 
we  to  esteem  his  alike  hard  words  of  the  Christians  to  be 
blots  on  his  own  character,  and  not  on  theirs. 

VH.  Since  therefore  Tacitus,  soon  after  the  publication  of 
Josephus’s  Antiquities,  and  in  contradiction  to  them,  was  dee 


DISSERTATION  III, 


68 

termined  to  produce  such  idle  stories  about  the  Jews,  ami 
since  one  of  those  idle  stories  is  much  the  same  with  that  pub¬ 
lished  in  Josephus  against  Apion,  from  Manetho  and  Lysima- 
chus,  and  no  where  else  met  with  so  fully  in  ail  antiquity,  it 
is  most  probable  that  these  Antiquities  of  Josephus  were  the 
very  occasion  of  Tacitus  giving  us  these  stories,  as  we  know 
from  Josephus  himself,  contr.  Apion,  B.  i.  sec.  1.  that  the 
same  Antiquities  were  the  very  occasion  of  Apion’s  publica¬ 
tion  of  his  equally  scandalous  stories  about  them,  and  which 
Josephus  so  thoroughly  confuted  in  his  two  books  written 
against  them.  And  if  Tacitus,  as  I  suppose,  had  also  read 
these  two  books,  his  procedure  in  publishing  such  stories,  af¬ 
ter  he  had  seen  so  thorough  a  confutation  of  them,  was  still 
more  highly  criminal.  Nor  will  Tacitus’s  fault  be  much 
less,  though  we  suppose  he  neither  saw  the  Antiquities,  nor 
the  books  against  Apion,  because  it  was  so  very  easy  for  him, 
then  at  Rome,  to  have  had  more  authentic  accounts  of  the 
origin  of  the  Jewish  nation,  and  of  the  nature  of  the  Jewish 
and  Christian  religions,  from  the  Jews  and  Christians  them¬ 
selves,  which  he  owns  were  very  numerous  there  in  his  days  : 
so  that  his  publication  of  such  idle  stories  is  still  utterly  inex¬ 
cusable. 

VIII.  It  is  therefore  very  plain,  after  all,  that  notwithstand¬ 
ing  the  encomiums  of  several  of  our  learned  critics  upon 
Tacitus,  and  hard  suspicions  upon  Josephus,  that  all  the  [in¬ 
voluntary]  mistakes  of  Josephus,  in  all  his  large  works  put 
togetlier,  their  quality  as  well  as  quantity ,  considered,  do  not 
amount  to  near  so  great  a  sum,  as  do  these  gross  errors  and 
misrepresentations  of  Tacitus’s  about  the  Jews  amount  to  in 
a  few  pages,  so  little  reason  have  some  of  our  later  and  lesser 
critics  to  prefer  the  Greek  and  Roman  profane  historians  and 
writers  to  the  Jewish,  and  particularly  to  Josephus.  Such 
later  and  lesser  critics  should  have  learned  more  judgment 
and  modesty  from  their  great  father  Joseph  Scaliger,  when,  as 
we  have  seen,  after  all  his  deeper  inquiries,  he  solemnly  pro¬ 
nounces,  De  Emend.  Temp.  Erolcgom.  p.  17,  That  “  Jose¬ 
phus  was  the  most  diligent  and  the  greatest  lover  of  truth  of 
all  writers and  is  not  afraid  to  affirm,  that  (i  it  is  more  safe 
to  believe  him,  not  only  as  to  the  affairs  of  the  Jews,  but  also 
as  to  those  that  are  foreign  to  them,  than  all  the  Greek  and 
Latin  writers,  and  this  because  his  fidelity  and  compass  of 
learning  are  every  where  vonspipuoiTs.” 


TABLE 


QF  THE  JEWISH  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES,  PARTICULARLY  0# 
THOSE  MENTIONED  IN  JOSEPHUS’S  WORKS. 

OF  THE  JEWISH  MEASURES  OF  LENGTH. 


Inches.  Feet.  Inches. 


Cubit,  the  standard,  .  .  . 

.  21  . 

.  .  .  1 

9 

Zereth,  or  large  span,  .  . 

10  1-2 

...  0 

’  0 

Small  span, . 

,  ,  ,  0 

0 

Palm,  or  hand’s-breadth,  . 

.  .31-2 

...  0 

0 

Inch,  or  thumb’s-breadth, 

.  .  1,16 

.  .  .  0 

0 

Digit, or  finger’s-breadth,  . 

.  .  ,875 

...  0 

0 

Orgyia,  or  fathom,  .  .  . 

.  .  84  . 

...  7 

0 

Ezekiel’s  Canneh,  or  reed,  . 

.  126  .  . 

.  .  10 

6 

Arabian  Canneh,  or  pole,  . 

.  168  . 

.  .  .  14 

0 

Schaenus,  line  or  chain, 

.  1680.  . 

.  .  140 

0 

Sabbath-day’s  journey,  . 

.  42000  . 

.  .  3500 

0 

Jewish  mile,  .  .  .  .  . 

84000  .  . 

;  7000 

0 

Stadium,  or  furlong,  .  . 

.  8400  . 

.  .  7  00 

0 

Parasang, . 

252000  .  . 

.  21000 

0 

OF  THE  JEWISH  MEASURES  OF  CAPACITY. 


Cub.  Inches.  Pints  or  Pounds . 


Hath,  or  Epha,  .... 

807 

,274  . 

37 

,83 

Corus,  or  Chomer,  .  .  . 

8072 

,74  . 

27  S 

>5 

Seah,  or  Saton, . 

269 

,091  . 

.  9 

,266 

Ditto  according  to  Josephus, 

828 

,28  . 

.  28 

,5 

Hin, . 

,54  . 

.  4 

,4633 

Ditto  according  to  Josephus, 

414 

,12  . 

.  14 

,8 

Omer,  or  Assaron,  .  .  , 

.  80 

,727  • 

2 

,78 

Cab, . 

,859 

.  1 

,544 

Log, . 

,21  . 

-•  • 

,39 

Metretes,  or  Syrian  firkin,  . 

207 

*-  • 

.  7 

,125 

OF  THE  JEWISH  WEIGHTS  AND  COINS. 


£  S.  ik 

Stater,  Siclus,  or  shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  the  stan¬ 
dard,  0  2 


6 


70 


JEWISH  WEIGHTS,  &c. 


I 


£ 

Tyrian  Coin,  equal  to  the  shekel,  ....  0 

Bekah,  half  of  the  shekel, . 0 

Drachma  Attica,  one  fourth, . 0 

Drachma  Alexandria,  or  Drachmon,  or  Adrach- 

mon,  one  half, . 0 

Gerah,  or  Obolus,  one  twentieth,  ....  0 

Maneh,or  Mna — 100  shekels  in  weight — 21900 

grains  Troy, . 

Maneh,  Mna,  or  Mina,  as  a  coin, — 60  shekels,  7 
Talent  of  silver, — 3000  shekels,  .  .  .  .3 75 

Drachma  of  gold  not  more  than  ....  0 

Shekel  of  gold  not  more  than . 0 

Daric  of  gold, . 1 


8. 

2 

1 

0 

1 

0 


10 

0 

1 

4 

0 


(I. 

6 

3 

7 

3 

1 


1-2 


1-2 


Talent  of  gold  not  more  than 


6048 


0 

0 

1 

4 

4 

0 


TABLE 


OF  THE  JEWrSH  MONTHS  IN  JOSEPHUS  AND  OTHERS,  WITH  THE 
NAMES  OF  THE  SYROMACEDONIAN  NAMES  JOSEPHUS  GIVES 
THEM,  AND  OF  THE  JULIAN  OR  ROMAN  MONTHS  CORRESPON¬ 
DING  TO  THEM. 


Hebrew  Names.  Syromaccdonian  Names.  Roman  Names. 


1. 

2. 

•3 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9- 

10. 

11. 

12. 


Nisan 
Jyap 
Si  van 
Tamuz 
Ab 
Elul 
Tisri 

Marhesvan 

Cafleu 

Tebeth 

Shebat 

Adar 


Xanthicus 
Artemisius 
Daesius 
Panemus 
Lous 

Gorpiaeus 

Hyperberetaeus 

Dius 

Apellaeus 

Audinaeus 

Peritius 

Dystrus 


....  Ve  Adar,  or 
The  second  Adar,  intercalated. 


March  and  April. 

April  and  May. 

May  and  June. 

June  and  July. 

July  and  August. 

August  and  September. 
September  and  October. 
October  and  November. 
November  and  December 
December  and  January. 
January  and  F ebruary. 
February  and  March. 


ANTIQUITIES 


THE  JEWS. 


PREFACE. 


fc±~Trr’S 


§1.  *Those  who  undertake  to  write  histories,  do  not,  I 
perceive,  take  that  trouble  on  one  and  the  same  account, 
but  for  many  reasons,  and  those  such  as  are  very  different 
one  from  another ;  for  some  of  them  appty  themselves  to  this 
part  of  learning  to  show  their  great  skill  in  composition,  and 
that  they  may  therein  acquire  a  reputation  for  speaking  fine¬ 
ly  ;  others  of  them  there  are  who  write  histories,  in  order  to 
gratify  those  that  happen  to  be  concerned  in  them,  and  on 
that  account  have  spared  no  pains,  but  rather  gone  beyond 
their  own  abilities  in  the  performance;  but  others  there  are, 
who  of  necessity,  and  by  force,  are  driven  to  write  history, 
because  they  were  concerned  in  the  facts,  and  so  cannot  ex¬ 
cuse  themselves  for  committing  them  to  writing,  for  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  posterity;  nay,  there  are  not  a  few  who  are  in¬ 
duced  to  draw  their  historical  facts  out  of  darkness  into 
light,  and  to  produce  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  public,  on 
account  of  the  great  importance  of  the  facts  themselves  with 
which  they  have  been  concerned.  Now  of  these  several 
reasons  for  writing  history,  I  must  profess  the  two  last  were 
my  own  reasons  also  :  for  since  I  was  myself  interested  in 
that  war  which  we  Jews  had  with  the  Romans,  and  knew 
myself  its  particular  actions,  and  what  conclusion  it  had,  I 
was  forced  to  give  the  history  of  it,  because  I  saw  that 
others  perverted  the  truth  of  those  actions  in  their  writings. 

2.  Now  I  have  undertaken  the  present  work  as  thinking 
it  will  appear  to  all  the  f  Greeks  worthy  of  their  study;  for 
it  will  contain  all  our  antiquities,  and  the  constitution  of  our 
government,  as  interpreted  out  of  the  Hebrew  scriptures. 


*  This  preface  of  Josephus’s  is  excellent  in  its  kind,  and  highly  wor¬ 
thy  the  repeated  perusal  of  the  reader,  before  he  set  about  the  perusal 
of  the  work  itself. 

1  That  is,  all  the  Gentiles,  both  Greeks  and  Roman?. 

VOL  I.  G 


74 


PREFACE. 


And  indeed  I  did  formerly  intend,  when  I  *vvrote  of  the  war, 
to  explain  who  the  Jews  originally  were;  what  fortunes  they 
had  been  subject  to  ;  and  by  what  legislator  they  had  been 
instructed  in  piety,  and  the  exercise  of  other  virtues ;  what 
wars  also  they  had  made  in  remote  ages,  till  they  were  un¬ 
willingly  engaged  in  this  last  with  the  Romans  :  but  because 
this  work  would  take  up  a  great  compass,  1  separated  it  into 
a  set  treatise  by  itself,  with  a  beginning  of  its  own,  and  its 
own  conclusion ;  but  in  process  of  time,  as  usually  happens 
to  such  as  undertake  great  things,  I  grew  weary,  and  went 
on  slowly,  it  being  a  large  subject,  and  a  difficult  thing  to 
translate  our  history  into  a  foreign,  and  to  us  unaccustomed 
language.  However,  some  persons  there  were  who  desired 
to  know  our  history,  and  so  exhorted  me  to  go  on  with  it ; 
and  above  all  the  rest  fEpaphroditus,  a  man  who  is  a  lover 
of  all  kind  of  learning,  but  is  principally  delighted  with  the 
knowledge  of  history,  and  on  this  account  of  his  having  been 
himself  concerned  in  great  affairs,  and  many  turns  of  fortune, 
and  having  shown  a  wonderful  vigour  of  an  excellent  nature, 
and  an  immoveable  virtuous  resolution  in  them  all.  I  yield¬ 
ed  to  this  man’s  persuasions,  who  always  excites  such  as  have 
abilities  in  what  is  useful  and  acceptable,  to  join  their  en¬ 
deavours  with  his.  I  was  also  ashamed  myself  to  permit 
any  laziness  of  disposition  to  have  a  greater  influence  upon 
me,  than  the  delight  of  taking  pains  in  such  studies  as  were 
very  useful ;  I  thereupon  stirred  up  myself,  and  went  on 
with  my  work  more  cheerfully7.  Besides  the  foregoing  mo¬ 
tives,  I  had  others  which  I  greatly  reflected  on ;  and  these 
were,  that  our  forefathers  were  willing  to  communicate  such 
things  to  others;  and  that  some  of  the  Greeks  took  conside¬ 
rable  pains  to  know  the  affairs  of  our  nation. 

3.  I  found  therefore  that  the  second  of  the  Ptolemies  was 
a  king  who  was  extraordinary  diligent  in  what  concerned 
learning,  and  the  collection  of  books ;  that  he  was  also  pe¬ 
culiarly  ambitious  to  procure  a  translation  of  our  law,  and  of 
the  constitution  of  our  government  therein  contained,  into 
the  Greek  tongue.  Now  Eleazar  the  high-priest,  one  not 

*  We  may  seasonably  note  here,  that  Josephus  wrote  his  Seven 
Books  of  the  Jewish  war  long  before  he  wrote  these  his  Antiquities. 
These  books  of  the  War  were  published  about  A.  D.  75,  and  these  An> 
tiquities,  A.  D  93,  about  eighteen  years  later. 

t  This  Epaphroditus  was  certainly  alive  in  the  third  year  of  Trajan,. 
A.  D.  100.  Seethe  note  on  Antiq  B.  i.  against  Apion,  sec.  i.  vol.  vi. 
Who  he  was  we  do  not  know ;  for  as  to  Epaphroditus,  the  freed  man  of 
Nero,  and  afterwards  Domitian’s  secretary,  who  was  pnt  to  death  by 
Domitian  in  the  14th  or  15th  year  of  his  reign,  he  could  not  be  alive  in 
Ihe  third  of  Trajan. 


PREFACE. 


inferior  to  any  other  of  that  dignity  among  us,  did  not  envy 
the  fore-named  king  the  participation  of  that  advantage, 
which  otherwise  he  would  for  certain  have  denied  him,  but 
that  he  knew  the  custom  of  our  nation  was  to  hinder  nothing 
of  what  we  esteemed  ourselves  from  being  communicated  to 
others.  Accordingly  I  thought  it  became  me,  both  to  imitate 
the  generosity  of  our  high-priest,  and  to  suppose  there  might 
even  now  be  many  lovers  of  learning  like  the  king  ;  for  he 
did  not  obtain  all  our  writings  at  that  time;  but  those  who 
were  sent  to  Alexandria  as  interpreters,  gave  him  only  the 
books  of  the  law,  while  there  were  a  vast  number  of  other 
matters  in  our  sacred  books.  They  indeed  contain  in  them 
the  history  of  five  thousand  years;  in  which  time  happened, 
many  strange  accidents,  many  chances  of  war,  and  great  ac¬ 
tions  of  the  commanders,  and  mutations  of  the  form  of  our 
government.  Upon  the  whole,  a  man  that  will  peruse  this 
history,  may  principally  learn  from  it,  that  all  events  suc¬ 
ceeded  well,  even  to  an  incredible  degree,  and  the  reward 
of  felicity  is  proposed  by  God ;  but  then  it  is  to  those  that 
follow  his  will,  and  do  not  venture  to  break  his  excellent 
laws;  and  that  so  far  as  men  any  way  apostatize  from  the  ac¬ 
curate  observation  of  them  *what  was  practicable  before 
becomes  impracticable ;  and  whatsoever  they  set  about  as  a 
good  thing,  is  converted  into  an  incurable  calamity.  And 
now  I  exhort  all  those  that  peruse  these  books  to  apply  their 
minds  to  God;  and  to  examine  the  mind  of  our  legislator, 
whether  he  hath  not  understood  his  nature  in  a  manner  wor¬ 
thy  of  him ;  and  hath  not  ever  ascribed  to  him  such  opera¬ 
tions  as  become  his  power,  and  hath  not  preserved  his  wri¬ 
tings  from  those  indecent  fables  which  others  have  framed, 
although,  by  the  great  distance  of  time  when  he  lived,  he 
might  have  securely  forged  such  lies  ;  for  he  lived  two  thou¬ 
sand  years  ago :  at  which  vast  distance  of  ages  the  poets 
themselves  have  not  been  so  hardy  as  to  fix  even  the  gene¬ 
rations  of  their  gods,  much  less  the  actions  of  their  men,  or 
their  own  laws.  As  I  proceed  therefore,  I  shall  accurately 
describe  what  is  contained  in  our  records,  in  the  order  of 
time  that  belongs  to  them;  for  I  have  already  promised  so 
to  do  throughout  this  undertaking,  and  this  without  adding 
any  thing  to  what  is  therein  contained,  or  taking  away  any 
thing  therefrom. 

4.  But  because  almost  all  our  constitution  depends  on  the 
wisdom  of  Moses,  our  legislator,  I  cannot  avoid  saying  sorac- 


*  Josephus  here  plainly  alludes  to  the  famous  Greek  proverb,  If  God 
6s  with  us,  every  thing  that  is  impossible  becomes  possible, 


PREFACE. 


I 

TO 

( 

what  concerning  him  beforehand,  though  I  shall  do  it  briefly ; 
I  mean,  because  otherwise  those  that  read  my  books  may 
Wonder  how  it  came  to  pass  that  my  discourse,  which  pro¬ 
mises  an  account  of  laws  and  historical  facts,  contains  so 
much  of  philosophy.  The  reader  is  therefore  to  know  that 
Moses  deemed  it  exceeding  necessary  that  he  w  ho  would 
conduct  his  own  life  well,  and  give  laws  to  others,  in  the  first 
place  should  consider  the  divine  nature ;  and  upon  the  con¬ 
templation  of  God’s  operations,  should  thereby  imitate  the 
best  of  all  patterns,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for  human  nature 
to  do,  and  to  endeavour  to  follow  after  it ;  neither  could  the 
legislator  himself  have  a  right  mind  without  such  a  contem¬ 
plation;  nor  would  anything  he  should  write  tend  to  the 
promotion  of  virtue  in  his  readers  ;  I  mean,  unless  they  be 
taught  first  of  all,  that  God  is  the  Father  and  Lord  of  all 
things,  and  sees  all  things,  and  that  thence  he  bestows  an 
happy  life  upon  those  that  follow  him ;  but  plunges  such  as 
do  not  walk  in  the  paths  of  virtue  in  inevitable  miseries. 
Now  when  Moses  was  desirous  to  teach  this  lesson  to  his 
countrymen,  he  did  not  begin  the  establishment  of  his  laws 
after  the  same  manner  that  other  legislators  did;  J  mean, 
upon  contracts,  and  other  rights  between  one  man  and  an¬ 
other,  but  by  raising  their  minds  upwards  to  regard  God,  and 
his  creation  of  the  world  ;  and  by  persuading  them  that  w'e 
men  are  the  most  excellent  of  the  creatures  of  God  upon 
earth.  Now  wdien  once  he  had  brought  them  to  submit  to 
religion,  he  easily  persuaded  them  to  submit  in  all  other 
things  :  for  as  to  other  legislators,  they  followed  fables,  and 
by  their  discourses  transferred  the  most  reproachful  of  hu¬ 
man  vices  unto  the  gods,  and  so  afforded  wicked  men  the 
most  plausible  excuses  for  their  crimes ;  but  as  for  our  le¬ 
gislator,  when  he  had  once  demonstrated  that  God  was  pos¬ 
sessed  of  perfect  virtue,  he  supposed  that  men  also  ought  to 
strive  after  the  participation  of  it ;  and  on  those  who  did  not 
so  think  and  so  believe,  he  inflicted  the  severest  punish¬ 
ments.  I  exhort,  therefore,  my  readers  to  examine  this  whole' 
undertaking  in  that  view  :  for  thereby  it  will  appear  to  them, 
that  there  is  nothing  therein  disagreeable  either  to  the  majes¬ 
ty  of  God,  or  to  his  love  to  mankind ;  for  all  things  have 
here  a  reference  to  the  nature  of  the  universe ;  while  our 
legislator  speaks  some  things  wisely,  but  enigmatically,  and 
others  under  a  decent  allegory,  but  still  explains  such  things 
as  required  a  direct  explication  plainly'1  and  expressly'.  How¬ 
ever,  those  that  have  a  mind  to  know  the  reasons  of  every¬ 
thing,  may  find  here  a  very  curious  philosophical  theory, 
which  I  now  indeed  shall  wave  the  explication  of,  but  if  God 


1 


PREFACE. 


a 

afford  me  time  for  it,  #I  will  set  about  writing  it  after  I  have 
finished  the  present  work.  I  shall  now  betake  myself  to 
one  history  before  me,  after  I  have  first  mentioned  what  Mo¬ 
ses  says  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  which  I  find  described 
in  the  sacred  books  after  the  manner  following. 


*  As  to  this  intended  work  of  Josephus’s  concerning  the  reasons  of 
many  of  the  Jewish  laws,  and  what  philosophical  or  allegorical  sense 
they  would  bear,  the  loss  of  which  work  is  by  some  of  the  learned  not 
much  regretted,  I  am  inclinable,  in  part,  to  Fabricius’s  opinion,  ap.  Ha* 
vercamp,  p.  63,  64.  That'“  we  need  not  doubt  but,  among  some  vain 
and  frigid  conjectures  derived  from  Jewish  imaginations,  Josephus 
would  have  taught  us  a  greater  number  of  excellent  and  useful  things, 
which  perhaps  nobody,  neither  among  the  Jews,  nor  among  the  Chris¬ 
tians,  can  now  inform  us  of:  so  that  I  would  give  a  great  deal  to  find  it 
still  extant-” 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  THE  JEWS. 


BOOK  I. 

CONTAINING  THE  INTERVAL  OF  3S33  YEARS, 
[From  the  Creation  to  the  death  of  Issac.] 


CHAP.  I. 

The  constitution  of  the  World,  and  the  disposition  of  the  Ele¬ 
ments.  . 

§  1.  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth. 
But  when  the  earth  did  not  come  into  sight,  but  was  cover¬ 
ed  with  thick  darkness,  and  a  wind  moved  upon  its  surface, 
God  commanded  that  there  should  be  light :  and  when  that 
was  made,  he  considered  the  whole  mass,  and  separated  the 
light  and  the  darkness  ;  and  the  name  he  gave  to  the  one  was 
Night,  and  the  other  he  called  Day :  and  he  named  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  light  and  the  time  of  rest,  the  Evening  and  the 
Morning.  And  this  was  indeed  the  first  day.  But  Moses 
said  it  was  one  day  :  the  cause  of  which  I  am  able  to  give 
even  now ;  but  because  I  have  promised  to  give  such  rea¬ 
sons  for  all  things  in  a  treatise  by  itself,  I  shall  put  off  its 
exposition  till  that  time.  After  this,  on  the  second  day,  he 
placed  the  heaven  over  the  whole  world,  and  separated  it 
from  the  other  parts,  and  he  determined  it  should  stand  by 
itself.  He  also  placed  a  crystaline  [firmament]  round  it, 
and  put  it  together  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  the  earth,  and 
fitted  it  for  giving  moisture  and  rain,  and  for  affording  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  dews.  On  the  third  day  he  appointed  the  dry  land 
to  appear,  with  the  sea  itself  round  about  it;  and  on  the  very 
same  day  he  made  the  plants  and  the  seeds  to  spring  out  of 
the  earth.  On  the  fourth  day  he  adorned  the  heaven  with 
the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  other  stars,  and  appointed  them 


so 


ANTIQUITIES 


Bool:  l 


their  motions  and  courses,  that  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons 
might  be  clearly  signified.  And  on  the  fifth  day  he  produc¬ 
ed  the  living  creatures,  both  those  that  swim  and  those  that 
fly;  the  former  in  the  sea,  the  latter  in  the  air:  he  also  sort¬ 
ed  them  as  to  society,  and  mixture  for  procreation,  and  that 
their  kinds  might  increase  and  multiply.  On  the  sixth  day  he 
created  the  four-footed  beasts,  and  made  them  male  and  fe¬ 
male;  on  the  same  day  he  also  formed  man.  Accordingly 
Moses  says,  that  in  just  six  days  the  world  and  all  that  is 
therein  was  made.  And  that  the  seventh  day  was  a  rest, and 
a  release  from  the  labour  of  such  operations ;  whence  it  is 
that  we  celebrate  a  rest  from  our  labours  on  that  day,  and 
call  it  the  Sabbath  ;  which  word  denotes  rest  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue. 

2.  Moreover  Moses,  after  the  seventh  day  was  over,  #be- 
gins  to  talk  philosophically ;  and  concerning  the  formation  of 
man,  says  thus,  That  God  took  dust  from  the  ground,  and 
formed  tman,  and  inserted  in  him  a  spirit  and  a  soul.  This 
man  was  called  Adam,  which  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  signifies 
one  that  is  red,  because  he  was  formed  out  of  red  earth  com¬ 
pounded  together ;  for  of  that  kind  is  virgin  and  true  earth. 
God  also  presented  the  living  creatures,  when  he  had  made 
them,  according  to  their  kinds,  both  male  and  female, to  Adam, 
and  gave  them  those  names  by  which  they  are  still  called. 
But  when  he  saw  that  Adam  had  no  female  companion,  no 
society,  for  there  was  no  such  created,  and  that  he  wonder¬ 
ed  at  the  other  animals  u'hich  were  male  and  female,  he  laid 
him  asleep,  and  took  away  one  of  his  ribs,  and  out  of  it  form¬ 
ed  the  woman ;  whereupon  Adam  knew  her  when  she  was 
brought  to  him,  and  acknowledged  that  she  was  made  out  of 
himself.  Now  a  woman  is  called  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  7s- 
sa;  but  the  name  of  this  woman  wras  Eve,  which  signifies  the 
Mother  of  all  living. 

*  Since  Josephus  in  his  preface,  sec.  4,  says  that  Moses  wrote  some 
things  enigmatically,  some  allegorically,  and  the  res*  in  plain  words: 
since  in  his  account  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  and  the  three  first 
verses  of  the  second,  he  gives  us  no  hints  of  any  mystery  at  all ;  but 
when  he  here  com  es  to  ver.  4,  &c.  he  says,  that  Moses,  after  the  seventh 
day  was  over,  began  to  talk  philosophically,  it  is  not  very  improbable 
that  he  understood  the  rest  of  the  second  and  the  third  chapters  in  some 
enigmatical,  allegorical,  or  philosophical  sense.  The  change  of  the  name 
of  God,  just  at  this  place,  from  Elohim  to  Jehovah  Elohim  ;  from  God 
to  Lord  God  in  the  Hebrew,  Samaritan,  and  Sepluagint,  does  also  not 
a  little  favour  some  such  change  in  the  narration  or  construction. 

t  We  may  observe  here,  that  Josephus  supposed  man  to  be  com¬ 
pounded  of  spirit,  soul,  and  body,  with  St.  Paul,  1  Thess.  v.  23,  and 
the  rest  of  the  ancients  :  he  elsewhere  says  also,  that  the  blood  of  ani¬ 
mals  was  forbidden  to  be  eaten,  as  having  in  it  soul  and  spirit.  Antiq. 
B.  iii.  chap  xi.  sec.  2. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


81 


Chap.  I. 

3.  Moses  says  further,  that  God  planted  a  paradise  in  the 
Eas't,  flourishing  with  all  sorts  of  trees  ;  and  that  among  them 
was  the  Tree  of  Life,  and  another  of  Knowledge ,  whereby  was 
to  be  known  what  was  Good  and  Evil:  and  that  when  he  had 
brought  Adam  and  his  wife  into  this  garden,  he  commanded 
them  to  take  care  of  the  plants.  Now  the  garden  was  wa¬ 
tered  by  *one  river,  which  ran  round  about  the  whole  earth, 
and  was  parted  into  four  parts.  And  Phison,  which  denotes 
a  Multitude ,  running  into  India,  makes  its  exit  into  thesea,  and 
is  by  the  Greeks  called  Ganges.  Euphrates  also,  as  well  as 
Tigris,  goes  down  into  the  IRed  Sea.  Now  the  name  Eu¬ 
phrates,  or  Phrath,  denotes  either  a  Dispersion  or  a  Floicer: 
by  Tigris  or  Diglath,  is  signified  ichat  is  sioift  icitli  narrow- 
ness  :  and  Geon  runs  through  Egypt,  and  denotes  what  arises 
from  the  East ,  which  the  Greeks  call  Nile. 

4.  God  therefore  commanded  that  Adam  and  his  wife 
should  eat  of  all  the  rest  of  the  plants,  but  to  abstain  from 
the  Tree  of  Knowledge  ;  and  foretold  them,  that  if  they  touch¬ 
ed  it,  it  would  prove  their  destruction.  But  while  all  the 
living  creatures  had  Jone  language  at  that  time,  the  Ser- 


*  Whence  this  strange  notion  came,  which  yet  is  riot  peculiar  to  Jose¬ 
phus,  but,  as  Dr  Hudson  says  here,  is  derived  from  elder  authors,  as  if 
four  of  the  greatest  rivers  in  the  world,  running  two  of  them  at  vast  dis¬ 
tances  from  the  other  two,  by  some  means  or  other  watered  Paradise,  is 
Lard  to  say  Only  since  Josephus  has  already  appeared  to  allegorize 
this  history,  and  takes  notice  that  these  four  names  had  a  particular  sig¬ 
nification  ;  Phison  for  Ganges,  a  Multitude  ;  Phrath  for  Euphrates,  ei¬ 
ther  Dispersion  or  a  Flower  ;  Diglath  for  Tigris,  what  is  siv if l  with  nar¬ 
rowness ;  and  Geon  for  Nile,  which  arises  from  the  East,  we  perhaps  mis¬ 
take  him  when  we  suppose  he  literally  means  those  four  rivers  ;  espe¬ 
cially  as  to  Geon  or  Nile,  which  arises  from  the  East,  while  he  very  well 
knew  the  literal  Nile  arises  from  the  south  ;  though  what  further  allego- 
vical  sense  he  had  in  view,  is  now  I  fear  impossible  to  be  determined. 

t  By  the  Red  Sea  is  not  here  meant  the  Arabian  Gulf,  which  alone 
we  now  cal)  by  that  name,  but  all  that  South  Sea,  which  included  the 
Red  Sea  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  as  far  as  the  East-Indies  ;  as  Reland  and 
Hudson  here  truly  note  from  the  old  geographers. 

t  Hence  it  appears,  that  Josephus  thought  several,  at  least,  of  the 
brute  animals,  particularly  the  Serpent,  could  speak  before  the  Fall. 
And  I  think  few  of  the-more  perfect  kinds  of  those  animals  want  the 
organs  of  speech  at  this  day.  Many  inducements  there  are  also  to  a  no¬ 
tion,  that  the  present  state  they  are  in  is  not  their  original  state  ;  and 
that  their  capacities  have  been  once  much  greater  than  we  now  see 
them,  and  are  capable  of  being  restored  to  their  former  condition.  But 
as  to  this  most  ancient  and  authentic,  and  probably  allegorical  account 
of  that  grand  affair  of  the  fall  of  our  first  parents,  1  have  somewhat 
more  to  say  in  way  of  conjecture;  but  being  only  a  conjecture,  I  omit 
it :  only  thus  far,  that  the  impulation  of  the  sin  ofour  first  parents  to  their 
posterity,  any  further  than  as  some  way  the  cause  or  occasion  of  man’s 
mortality,  seems  almost  entirely  groundless ;  and  that  both  man,  and  the 


S2 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  1. 


pent,  which  then  lived  together  with  Adam  and  his  wife, 
showed  an  envious  disposition,  at  his  supposal  of  their  living 
happily,  and  in  obedience  to  the  commands  of  God ;  and 
imagining  that  when  they  disobeyed  them,  they  would  fall 
into  calamities,  he  persuaded  the  woman,  out  of  a  malicious 
intention,  to  taste  of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge,  telling  them, 
that  in  that  tree  was  the  Knowledge  of  Good  and  Evil ;  which 
knowledge  when  they  should  obtain,  they  would  lead  an 
happy  life,  nay,  a  life  not  inferior  to  that  of  a  god:  by 
which  means  he  overcame  the  woman,  and  persuaded  her 
to  despise  the  command  of  God.  Now  when  she  had  tasted 
of  that  tree,  and  was  pleased  with  its  fruits,  she  persuaded 
Adam  to  make  use  of  it  also.  Upon  this  they  perceived 
that  they  were  become  naked  to  one  another ;  and  being- 
ashamed  thus  to  appear  abroad,  they  invented  somewhat  to 
cover  them;  for  the  tree  sharpened  their  understanding; 
and  they  covered  themselves  with  fig-leaves ;  and  tying  these 
before  them,  out  of  modesty,  they  thought  they  were  hap¬ 
pier  than  they  were  before,  as  they  had  discovered  what  they 
were  in  want  of.  13ut  when  God  came  into  the  garden, 
Adam,  who  was  wont  before  to  come  and  converse  with  him, 
being  conscious  of  his  wicked  behaviour,  went  out  of  the 
way.  This  behaviour  surprised  God ;  and  he.  asked  what 
was  the  cause  of  this  his  procedure  ?  and  why  he,  that  before 
delighted  in  that  conversation,  did  now  fly  from  it,  and  avoid 
it?  when  he  made  no  reply,  as  conscious  to  himself  that  he 
had  transgressed  the  command  of  God,  God  said,  “  I  had 
before  determined  about  you  both,  how  you  might  lead  an 
happy  life,  without  any  affliction,  and  care,  and  vexation  of 
soul;  and  that  all  things  which  might  contribute  to  your  en¬ 
joyment  and  pleasure  should  grow  up  by  my  providence,  of 
their  own  accord,  without  your  own  labour  or  pains-taking; 
which  state  of  labour  and  pains-taking  would  soon  bring  on 
old  age,  and  death  would  not  be  at  any  remote  distance :  but 
now  thou  hast  abused  this  my  good-will,  and  hast  disobeyed 
my  commands;  for  thy  silence  is  not  the  sign  of  thy  virtue, 
but  of  thy  evil  conscience.”  However,  Adam  excused  his 
sin,  and  entreated  God  not  to  be  angry  at  him,  and  laid  the 
blame  of  what  was  done  upon  his  wife :  and  said,  that  he 
was  deceived  by  her,  and  thence  became  an  offender  ;  while 
she  again  accused  the  Serpent.  But  God  allotted  him  pu¬ 
nishment,  because  he  weakly  submitted  to  the  counsel  of  his 
wife;  and  said,  the  ground  should  not  henceforth  yield  its 

other  subordinate  creatures,  are  hereafter  to  he  delivered  from  the 
curse  then  brought  upon  them,  and  at  last  to  be  delivered  from  that  bon » 
dugc  of  corruption.  Rom.  viii.  19 — 22. 


OP  THE  JEWS. 


S3 


Chap.  71. 

fruits  of  its  own  accord,  but  that  when  it  should  be  harrassed 
by  their  labour,  it  should  bring  forth  some  of  its  fruits,  and 
refuse  to  bring  forth  others.  He  also  made  Eve  liable  to 
the  inconveniency  of  breeding,  and  the  sharp  pains  of  bring¬ 
ing  forth  children,  and  this  because  she  persuaded  Adam  with 
the  same  arguments  wherewith  the  Serpent  had  persuaded 
her,  and  had  thereby  brought  him  into  a  calamitous  condi¬ 
tion.  He  also  deprived  the  Serpent  of  speech,  out  of  indig¬ 
nation  at  his  malicious  disposition  towards  Adam.  Besides 
this,  he  inserted  poison  under  his  tongue,  and  made  him  an 
enemy  to  men  :  and  suggested  to  them  that  they  should  di¬ 
rect  their  strokes  against  his  head,  that  being  the  place 
wherein  lay  his  mischievous  designs  towards  men,  and  it  be¬ 
ing  easiest  to  take  vengeance  on'him  that  way:  and  when  he 
had  deprived  him  of  the  use  of  his  feet,  he  made  him  tot  go 
rolling  all  along,  and  dragging  himself  upon  the  ground.  And 
when  God  had  appointed  these  penalties  for  them,  he  re¬ 
moved  Adam  and  Eve  out  of  the  garden  into  another  place. 

CHAP  II. 

Concerning  the  posterity  of  Adam ,  and  the  ten  generations 
from  him  to  the  Deluge. 

§1.  Adam  and  Eve  had  two  sons;  the  elder  of  them  was 
named  Cam,  which  name,  when  it  is  interpreted,  signifies  a 
possession.  The  younger  was  Abel,  which  signifies  Sorrotc. 
They  had  also  daughters.  Now  the  two  brethren  were 
pleased  with  different  courses  of  life;  for  Abel  the  young¬ 
er,  was  a  lover  of  righteousness,  and  believing  that  God  was 
present  at  all  his  actions,  he  excelled  in  virtue;  and  his  em¬ 
ployment  was  that  of  a  shepherd.  But  Cain  was  not  only 
very  wicked  in  other  respects,  but  was  wholly  intent  upon 
getting;  and  he  first  contrived  to  plough  the  ground.  He 
slew  his  brother  on  the  occasion  following  :  they  had  resolv¬ 
ed  to  sacrifice  to  God.  Now  Cain  brought  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  and  of  his  husbandry;  but  Abel  brought  milk,  and 
the  first  fruits  of  his  flocks :  but  *God  was  more  delighted 
with  the  latter  oblation,  when  he  was  honoured  with  what 

*  St.  John’s  account  of  the  reason  why  God  accepted  the  sacrifice  of 
Abel,  and  rejected  that  of  Cain,  as  also  why  Cain  slew  Abel,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  that  his  acceptance  witli  God,  is  much  better  than  this  of  Jose¬ 
phus’s;  I  mean,  because  Cain  was  of  the  evil  one,  and  slew  his  brother. 
And  t cherefore  slew  he  him  ?  Because  his  own  works  were  evil,  and  his 
brother’s  righteous.  Job  iii.  12  Josephus’s  reason  seems  to  he  no  better 
than  a  Pharisaical  notion  or  tradilion. 


34 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  7. 


grew  naturally  of  its  own  accord,  than  he  was  with  what  was 
the  invention  of  a  covetous  man,  and  gotten  by  forcing  the 
ground;  whence  it  was  that  Cain  was  very  angry  that  Abel 
was  preferred  by  God  before  him,  and  he  slew  his  brother, 
and  hid  his  dead  body,  thinking  to  escape  discovery.  But 
God,  knowing  what  had  been  done,  came  to  Cain,  and  asked 
him,  What  was  become  of  his  brother?  because  he  had  not 
seen  him  of  many  clays,  whereas  he  used  to  observe  them 
conversing  together  at  other  times.  But  Cain  was  in  doubt 
with  himself,  and  knew  not  what  answer  to  give  God.  At 
first  he  said,  that  he  was  himself  at  loss  about  his  brother’s 
disappearing;  but  when  he  was  provoked  by  God,  w  ho  press¬ 
ed  him  vehemently,  as  resolving  to  know  what  the  matter 
was,  he  replied,  He  was  no't  his  brother’s  guardian  or  keep 
er,  nor  was  he  an  observer  of  what  he  did.  .But  in  return 
God  convicted  Cain,  as  having  been  the  murderer  of  his 
brother,  and  said,  I  wonder  at  thee,  that  thou  knowest  not 
what  is  become  of  a  man  whom  thou  thyself  hast  destroyed.” 
God  therefore  did  not  inflict  the  punishment  [of  death]  upon 
him,  on  account  of  his  offering  sacrifice,  and  thereby  making 
supplication  to  him  not  to  be  extreme  in  his  wrath  to  him, 
but  he  made  him  accursed,  and  threatened  his  posterity  in 
the  seventh  generation.  He  also  cast  him,  together  with  his 
wife,  out  of  that  land.  And  when  he  was  afraid,  that  in  wan¬ 
dering  about,  he  should  fall  among  wild  beasts,  and  by  that 
means  perish,  God  bid  him  not  to  entertain  such  a  melan¬ 
choly  suspicion,  and  to  go  over  all  the  earth  without  fear  of 
what  mischief  he  might  suffer  from  wild  beasts  ;  and  setting 
a  mark  upon  him,  that  he  might  be  known,  he  commanded 
him  to  depart. 

2.  And  when  Cain  had  travelled  over  many  countries,  he, 
with  his  wife,  built  a  city,  named  Nod,  which  is  a  place  so 
ealled,  and  there  he  settled  his  abode  ;  where  also  he  had 
children.  However,  he  did  not  accept  of  his  punishment  in 
order  to  amendment,  but  to  increase  his  wickedness,  for  he 
only  aimed  to  procure  every  thing  that  was  for  his  own  bodi¬ 
ly  pleasure,  though  it  obliged  him  to  be  injurious  to  his  neigh¬ 
bours.  He  augmented  his  household  substance  with  much 
wealth,  by  rapine  and  violence;  he  excited  his  acquaintance 
to  procure  pleasure  and  spoils  by  robbery,  and  became  a 
great  leader  of  men  into  wicked  courses.  He  also  introdu¬ 
ced  a  change  in  that  way  of  simplicity  wherein  men  lived  be¬ 
fore  ;  and  was  the  author  of  measures  and  weights  :  and 
whereas  they  lived  innocently  and  generously  while  they 
knew  nothing  of  such  arts,  he  changed  the  world  into  cun¬ 
ning  craftiness.  He  first  of  all  set  boundaries  about  lands  : 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


S3 


Chap.  II. 

lie  built  a  city,  and  fortified  it  with  walls,  and  lie  compelled 
his  family  to  come  together  to  it  $  and  called  that  city  Enoch a 
after  the  name  of  his  eldest  son  Enoch.  Now  Jared  was  the 
son  of  Enoch  ;  whose  son  was  Malaleel  ;  whose  son  was 
Mathusela  ;  whose  son  was  Lamech  ;  who  had  seventy-seven 
children  by  two  wives,  Sillaand  Ada.  Of  those  children  by 
Ada,  one  was  Jabal ;  he  erected  tents,  and  loved  the  life  of  a 
shepherd.  But  Juhal,  who  was  born  of  the  same  mother 
with  him,  exercised  himself  in*  music  ;  and  invented  the 
psaltry  and  harp.  But  Tubal,  one  of  his  children  by  the 
other  wife,  exceeded  all  men  in  strength,  and  was  very  ex¬ 
pert  and  famous  in  martial  performances.  He  procured  what 
tended  to  pleasures  of  the  body  by  that  method  :  and  first  of 
all  invented  the  art  of  making  brass.  Lamech  was  also  the 
father  of  a  daughter,  whose  name  was  Naamah  ;  and  because 
he  was  so  skilful  in  matters  of  divine  revelation,  that  he  knew 
he  was  to  be  punished  for  Cain’s  murder  of  his  brother,  he 
made  that  known  to  his  wives.  Nay,  even  while  Adam  was 
alive,  it  came  to  pass  that  the  posterity  of  Cain  became  ex¬ 
ceeding  wicked,  every  one  successively  dying  one  after  an¬ 
other  more  wicked  than  the  former.  They  were  intolerable 
in  war,  and  vehement  in  robberies  ;  and  if  any  one  were 
slow  to  murder  people,  yet  was  he  bold  in  his  profligate  be¬ 
haviour,  in  acting  unjustly,  and  doing  injuries  for  gain. 

3.  Now  Adam,  who  was  the  first  man,  and  made  out  of  the 
earth,  (for  our  discourse  must  now  be  about  him,)  after  Abe! 
wras  slain,  and  Cain  fled  away,  on  account  of  his  murder,  was 
solicitous  for  posterity,  and  had  a  vehement  desire  of  chil¬ 
dren,  he  being  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  old  ;  after  which 
time  he  lived  other  seven  hundred  and  then  died.  He  had 
indeedt  many  other  children,  but  Seth  in  particular.  As  for 
the  rest,  it  would  be  tedious  to  name  them  ;  I  will  therefore 
only  endeavour  to  give  an  account  of  those  that  proceeded 
from  Seth.  Now  this  Seth,  when  he  was  brought  up,  and 
eame  to  those  years  in  which  he  could  discern  what  was  good, 
became  a  virtuous  man  ;  and  as  he  was  himself  of  an  ex¬ 
cellent  character,  so  did  he  leave  t  children  behind  him  who 

*  From  tins  Jubal,  not  improbably,  cam eJubel,  the  trumpet  of  JobeL, 
or  Jubilee,  that  large  and  loud  musical  instrument,  used  in  proclaiming 
the  liberty  at  the  Year  of  Jubilee. 

t  The  number  of  Adam’s  children,  as  says  the  old  tradition,  was  thir¬ 
ty-three  sons,  and  twenty-three  daughters 

t  What  is  here  said  of  Seth  and  his  posterity,  that  they  were  ver^ 
good  and  virtuous,  and  at  the  same  time  very  happy,  without  any  con¬ 
siderable  misfortunes,  for  seven  generations,  [see  chap  ii.  sec.  1,  before, 
and  chap.  iii.  sec.  1  hereafter,]  is  exactly  agreeable  to  the  state  of  the 
wTorld,  and  the  conduct  of  providence,  in  all  the  first  ages. 

VOL-  I.  H 


3G  ANTIQUITIES  Boole  L 

imitated  his  virtues.  All  these  proved  to  be  of  good  dispc- 
sftions.  They  also  inhabited  the  same  country  without  dis- 
sentions,  and  in  a  happy  condition,  without  any  misfortunes 
falling  upon  them,  till  they  died.  They  also  were  the  inven¬ 
tors  of  that  peculiar  sort  of  wisdom,  which  is  concerned  with 
the  heavenly  bodies,  and  their  order.  And  that  their  inven¬ 
tions  might  not  be  lost  before  they  were  sufficiently  known, 
upon  Adam’s  prediction  that  the  world  was  to  be  destroyed 
at  one  time  by  the  force  of  jire,  and  at  another  time  by  the 
violence  and  quantity  of  water ,  they  made*  two  pillars  ;  the 
one  of  brick,  the  other  of  stone  :  they  inscribed  their  disco¬ 
veries  on  them  both,  that  in  case  the  pillar  of  brick  should  be 
destroyed  by  the  flood,  the  pillar  of  stone  might  remain,  end 
exhibit  those  discoveries  to  mankind  :  and  also  inform  them 
that  there  was  another  pillar  of  brick  erected  by  them.  Now 
this  remains  in  the  land  of  Siriad  to  this  day. 


CHAP.  III. 

Concerning  the  Flood ;  and  after  what  manner  Noah  was 
saved  in  the  ark ,  with  his  kindred ,  and  afterwards  dwelt 
in  the  plain  of  Shinar. 

§  1.  Now  this  posterity  of  Seth  continued  to  esteem  God 
as  the  Lord  of  the  universe,  and  to  have  an  entire  regard  to 
virtue,  for  seven  generations;  but  in  process  of  time  they 
were  perverted,  and  forsook  the  practices  of  their  forefa¬ 
thers,  and  did  neither  pay  those  honours  to  God  which  were  , 
appointed  them,  nor  had  they  any  concern  to  do  justice  to¬ 
wards  men,  but  for  what  degree  of  zeal  they  had  formerly 
shown  for  virtue,  they  now  showed  by  their  actions  a  double 
degree  of  wickedness  ;  whereby  they  made  God  to  be  their  * 
enemy.  For  many t  angels  of  God  accompanied  with  wo- 


*  Of  Josephus’s  mistake  here,  when  he  took  Seth,  the  son  of  Adam, 
for  Selh  or  Sesostris,  king  of  Egypt,  the  erector  of  these  pillars  in  the 
land  of  Siriad  ;  see  Essay  on  the  Old  Testament,  Appendix,  p.  159,  ICO. 
Although  the  main  of  this  resolution  might  be  true,  and  Adam  might 
foretel  a  conflagration,  and  a  deluge,  which  all  anticpiity  witnesses  to  be 
an  ancient  tradition  ;  nay,  Seth’s  posterity  might  engrnve  their  inven* 
tions  in  astronomy  on  two  pillars,  yet  it  is  no  way  credible  that  they 
could  survive  the  deluge,  which  has  buried  all  such  pillars  and  edifices 
far  under  ground,  in  the  sedirneut  of  its  waters,  especially  since  the  like 
pillars  of  the  Egyptian  Seth  or  Sesostris  were  extant,  after  the  flood ,  in 
the  land  of  Siriad,  and  perhaps  iu  the  days  of  Josephus  also,  as  is  shown 
in  the  place  here  referred  to. 

t  This  notion,  that  tiie  fallen  angels  were,  in  some  sense*  (he  fafherj 
of  the  old  Giants,  was  the  constant  opinion  of  antiquity. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  HI. 


Sf 


men  and  begat  sons  that  proved  unjust,  and  despisers  of  all 
that  was  good,  on  account  of  the  confidence  they  had  in  their 
own  strength  ;  for  the  tradition  is,  that  these  men  did  what 
resembled  the  acts  of  those  whom  the  Grecians  call  Giants. 
But  Noah  was  very  uneasy  at  what  they  did  ;  and  being  dis¬ 
pleased  at  their  conduct,  persuaded  them  to  change  their  dis¬ 
positions,  and  their  acts,  for  the  better  :  but  seeing  they  did 
not  yield  to  him,  but  were  slaves  to  their  wicked  pleasures, 
.he  was  afraid  they  would  kill  him,  together  with  his  wife  and 
children,  and  those  they  had  married  ;  so  he  departed  out  of 
that  land. 

2.  Now  God  loved  this  man  for  his  righteousness  :  yet  he 
not  only  condemned  those  other  men  for  their  wickedness, 
and  determined  to  destroy  the  whole  race  of  mankind,  and 
to  make  another  race  that  should  be  pure  from  wickedness, 
and  cutting  short  their  lives,  and  making  their  years  not  so 
many  as  they  formerly  lived,*  one  hundred  and  twenty  only, 
he  turned  the  dry  land  into  sea  ;  and  thus  were  all  these  men 
destroyed  :  but  Noah  alone  was  saved  ;  for  God  suggested  to 
him  the  following  contrivance  and  way  of  escape  ;  that  he 
should  make  an  ark  of  four  stories  highj  three  hundred;  cu¬ 
bits  long,  fifty  cubits  broad,  and  thirty  cubits  high.  Accord¬ 
ingly  he  entered  into  the  ark,  and  his  wife  and  sons,  and 
their  wives,  and  put  into  it  not  only  other  provisions,  to  sup¬ 
port  their  wants  there,  but  also  sent  in  with  the  rest  all  sorts 
of  living  creatures,  the  male  and  his  female,  for  the  preser¬ 
vation  of  their  kinds  :  and  others  of  them  by  sevens.  Now 
this  ark  had  firm  walls,  and  a  roof,  and  was  braced  with  cross 
beams,  so  that  it  could  not  be  any  way  drowned,  or  over¬ 
borne  by  the  violence  of  the  water.  And  thus  was  Noah, 
with  his  family,  preserved.  Now  he  was  the  tenth  from 
Adam,  being  the  son  of  Lamech,  whose  father  was  IVlathu- 
sala  :  he  was  the  son  of  Enoch,  the  son  of  Jared  ;  and  Jared 


*  Josephus  here  supposes,  that  the  life  of  these  Giants,  for  of  them 
only  do  I  understand  him,  was  now  reduced  to  120  years ;  which  is  con¬ 
firmed  by  the  fragment  of  Enoch,  sec.  10.  in  Authent.  Rec  part  i.  p 
•268.  For  as  to  the  rest  of  mankind,  Josephus  himself  confesses  their 
lives  were  much  longer  than  120  years  for  many  generations  after  the 
flood,  as  we  shall  see  presently ;  and  he  says  they  were  gradually  sbor 
tened,  till  the  days  of  Moses,  and  then  fixed  [for  some  time]  at  120,  cap. 
vi.  sec.  5  Nor  indeed  need  we  suppose,  that  either  Enoch  or  Josephus 
meant  to  interpret  these  120years  for  the  life  of  men  before  the  flood,  to 
be  different  from  the  120  years  of  God’s  patience  [perhaps  while  the  ark 
was  preparing]  till  the  deluge;  which  I  take  to  be  the  meaning  of  God 
when  he  threatened  this  wicked  world,  that  if  they  so  long  continued 
impenitent,  their  days  should  be  no  more  than  120  ijtars. 
i  A  cubit  is  21  English  inches. 


88 


Boole  1. 


ANTIQUITIES 

was  the  son  of  Malaleel,  who,  with  many  of  his  sisters,  were 
the  children  of  Cain,  the  son  of  Enos.  Now  Enos  was  the 
son  of  Seth,  the  son  of  Adam. 

3.  This  calamity  happened  in  the  six  hundredth  year  ot 
Noah’s  government,  [age]  in  the*  second  month,  called  by 
the  Macedonians  Dins,  but  by  the  Hebrews  Marhesven  ;  for 
so  did  they  order  their  year  in  Egypt.  But  Moses  appoint¬ 
ed  that  Nisan,  which  is  the  same  with  Xanthicus,  should  be 
the  first  month  for  their  festivals,  because  he  brought  them 
out  of  Egypt  in  that  month  :  so  that  this  month  began  the 
year,  as  to  all  the  solemnities  they  observed  to  the  honour 
of  God,  although  he  preserved  the  original  order  of  the 
months  as  to  selling  and  buying,  and  other  ordinary  affairs. 
Now  he  says,  that  this  flood  began  on  the  twenty-seventh 
[seventeenth]  day  of  the  forementioned  month  ;  and  this  was 
two  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-six  [one  thousand  five 
hundred  and  fifty-six]  years  from  Adam  the  first  man,  and 
the  time  is  written  down  in  our  sacred  books,  thoset  who  then 
lived  having  noted  down,  with  great  accuracy,  both  the  births 
and  deaths  of  illustrious  men. 

4.  For  indeed  Seth  was  born  when  Adam  was  in  his  two 
hundred  and  thirtieth  year,  who  lived  nine  hundred  and  thir¬ 
ty  years.  Seth  begat  Enoch  in  his  two  hundred  and  fifth 
year;  who,  when  he  had  lived  nine  hundred  and  twelve 
years,  delivered  the  government  to  Cainan  his  son,  whom  he 
had  at  his  hundred  and  ninetieth  year.  He  lived  nine  bun-, 
dred  and  five  years.  Cainan,  when  he  had  lived  nine  hun¬ 
dred  and  ten  years,  had  his  son  Malaleel,  who  was  born  in 
his  hundred  and  seventieth  year.  This  Malaleel  having  liv¬ 
ed  five  hundred  and  ninety-five  years,  died,  leaving  his  son 
Jared,  whom  he  begat  when  he  was  at  his  hundred  and  sixty- 
fifth  year.  He  lived  nine  hundred  and  sixty-two  years;  and 
then  his  son  Enoch  succeeded  him,  who  was  born  when  his 
father  was  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  years  old.  Now  he. 


*  Josephus  here  truly  determines,  that  the  year  at  the  flood  began 
about  the  autumnal  equinox  ;  as  to  what  day  of  the  month  the  flood  be¬ 
gan,  our  Hebrew  and  Samaritan,  and  perhaps  Josephtis’s  own  copy, 
more  rightly  placed  it  on  the  17th  day  instead  of  the  27th,  as  here  ;  for 
Josephus  agrees  with  them  as  to  the. distance  of  150  days  to  the  17th 
day  of  the  seventh  month,  as  Gen.  vii  ult.  with  viii.  3 

t  Josephus  here  takes  notice,  that  these  ancient  genealogies  were  first 
set  down  by  those  that  then  lived,  und  from  them  were  transmitted 
down  to  posterity;  which  1  suppose  to  be  the  true  account  of  that  mat¬ 
ter:  for  there  h  no  reason  to  imagine  that  men  were  not  taught  to  read 
and  write  soon  after  they  were  taught  to  speak;  and  perhaps  all  by  the 
Messiah  himself,  who,  under  the  Father,  was  the  Creator  or  Governor 
of  mankind,  and  who  frequently  in  those  early  days  appeared  to  them.-. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


89 


Chap.  III. 

when  he  had  lived  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  years,  depar¬ 
ted  and  went  to  God  ;  whence  it  is  that  they  have  not  writ¬ 
ten  down  his  death.  Now  Mathusala,  the  son  of  Enoch, 
who  was  born  to  him  when  he  was  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  years  old,  had  Lamech  for  his  son,  when  he  was  one 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  years  of  age  ;  to  whom  he  deliver¬ 
ed  the  government  when  he  had  retained  it  nine  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  years.  Now  Lamech,  when  he  had  governed 
seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven  years,  appointed  Noah  his 
son  to  be  ruler  of  the  people,  who  was  born  to  Lamech  when 
he  was  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  years  old,  and  retained 
the  government  nine  hundred  and  fifty  years.  These  years 
collected  together  make  up  the  sum  before  set  down.  But 
let  no  one  inquire  into  the  deaths  of  these  men  ;  for  they  ex¬ 
tended  their  lives  along  together  with  their  children  and  grand¬ 
children,  but  let  him  have  regard  to  their  births  only. 

5.  When  God  gave  the  signal,  and  it  began  to  rain,  the 
water  poured  down  forty  entire  days,  till  it  became  fifteen 
cubits  higher  than  the  earth  ;  which  was  the  reason  why 
there  were  no  greater  number  preserved,  since  they  had  no 
place  to  flee  to.  When  the  rain  ceased,  the  water  did  but 
just  begin  to  abate  after  one  hundred  and  fifty  days,  that  is, 
on  the  seventeenth  of  the  seventh  month,  it  then  ceasing  to 
subside  for  a  little  while.  After  this  the  ark  rested  on  the 
top  of  a  certain  mountain  in  Armenia  :  which,  when  Noah 
understood,  he  opened  it,  and  seeing  a  small  piece  of  land 
about  it,  he  continued  quiet,  and  conceived  some  cheerful 
hopes  of  deliverance.  But  a  few  days  afterward,  when  the 
water  was  decreased  to  a  great  degree,  he  sent  out  a  raven, 
as  desirous  to  learn  whether  any  other  part  of  the  earth 
were  left  dry  by  the  water,  and  whether  he  might  go  out  of 
the  ark  with  safety  ;  but  the  raven  returned  not.  And  after 
seven  days  he  sent  out  a  dove,  to  know  the  state  of  theground, 
which  came  back  to  him  covered  with  mud,  and  bringing 
an  olive  branch  :  hereby  Noah  learned,  that  the  earth  was 
become  clear  of  the  flood.  So  after  he  had  stayed  seven 
days  more,  he  sent  the  living  creatures  out  of  the  ark  ;  and 
both  he  and  his  family  went  out,  when  he  also  sacrificed  to 
God,  and  feasted  with  his  companions.  However,  the  Ar¬ 
menians  call  this  place  *A nroCdmov^  The  place  of  descent ; 

This  AwoGalmov,  or  place  of  descent,  is  the  proper  rendering  of  the 
Armenian  name  of  this  very  city.  It  is  called  in  Ptolemy Naxuana,  and 
by  Moses  Chorenensis,  the  Armenian  historian,  Idsheuan  ;  but  at  the 
place  itself,  ffachaisheuan,  which  signifies  the  first  place  of  descent;  and 
,fs  a  lasting  monument  of  the  presevation  of  INoah  in  the  ark,  upon  the 
'op  of  that  mountain,  at  whose  foot  it  was  built,  as  the  first  cilv  or  town 


90  ANTIQUITIES  Boole  1. 

for  the  ark  being  saved  in  that  place,  its  remains  are  showed 
there  by  the  inhabitants  to  this  day. 

6.  Now  some  writers  of  barbarian  histories  make  mention 
of  this  flood,  and  of  this  ark  ;  among  whom  is  Berosus  the 
Chaldean.  For  when  he  was  describing  the  circumstances 
of  the  flood,  he  goes  on  thus  :  “  It  is  said  there  is  still  some 
part  of  this  ship  in  Armenia,  at  the  mountain  of  the  Cor- 
dyaeans  ;  and  that  some  people  carry  off  pieces  of  the  bitu¬ 
men,  which  they  take  away,  and  use  chiefly  as  amulets,  for 
the  averting  of  mischiefs.”  Hieronymus  the  Egyptian  also, 
who  wrote  the  Phoenician  Antiquities,  and  Manaseas,  and  a 
great  many  more,  make  mention  of  the  same.  Nay,  Nicolaus 
of  Damascus,  in  bis  ninety-sixth  book,  hath  a  particular  rela¬ 
tion  about  them  ;  where  he  speaks  thus  :  C(  There  is  a  great 
mountain  in  Armenia,  overMinyas,  called  Baris,  upon  which 
it  is  reported  that  many  who  fled  at  the  time  of  the  deluge 
were  saved ;  and  that  one  who  was  carried  in  an  ark  and 
came  on  shore  upon  the  top  of  it ;  and  that  the  remains  of  the 
timber  were  a  great  while  preserved  :  this  might  be  the  man 
about  whom  Moses  the  legislator  of  the  Jew's  wrote.” 

7.  But  as  for  Noah,  he  was  afraid,  since  God  had  deter¬ 
mined  to  destroy  mankind,  lest  he  should  drown  the  earth 
every  year  ;  so  he  offered  burnt-offerings,  and  besought  God 
that  nature  might  hereafter  go  on  in  its  former  orderly  course, 
and  that  he  would  not  bring  on  so  great  a  judgment  any  more, 
by  which  the  whole  race  of  creatures  might  be  in  danger  of 
destruction  ;  but  that,  having  now  punished  the  wicked,  he 
would  of  his  goodness  spare  the  remainder,  and  such  as  he 
had  hitherto  judged  fit  to  be  delivered  from  so  severe  a  ca¬ 
lamity,  for  that  otherwise  these  last  must  be  more  miserable 
than  the  first,  and  that  the}'  must  be  condemned  to  a  worse 
condition  than  the  others,  unless  they  be  suffered  to  escape 
entirely ;  that  is,  if  they  be  reserved  from  another  deluge, 
while  they  must  be  afflicted  with  the  terror  of  the  sight  of  the 
first  deluge,  and  must  also  be  destroyed  by  a  second.  He  also 
entreated  God  to  accept  of  his  sacrifice,  and  to  grant  that  the 
earth  might  never  again  undergo  the  like  effects  of  his  wrath  ; 
that  men  might  be  deprived  of  any  of  those  good  things 

after  the  flood.  See  Antiq.  B.  xx.  ch.  ii.  §  3.  vol.  iv.  and  Moses  Chore- 
nensis,  p.  71,  72,  Who  also  says,  p.  19,  that  another  towm  was  related 
by  tradition  to  have  been  called  Seron,  or  the  place  oj  dispersion,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  dispersion  of  Xisuthrus’s  or  Noah’s  sons  from  thence  first 
made.  Whether  any  remains  of  this  ark  be  still  preserved,  as  the  peo¬ 
ple  of  the  country  suppose,  I  cannot  certainly  tell.  Mons.  Tournefort 
had  not  very  long  sin<.e  a  mind  to  see  the  place  himself,  but  met  with 
too  great  dangers  and  difficulties  to  venture  through  them. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


91 


Chap.  III. 

which  they  enjoyed  before  the  flood  ;  but  might  attain  to  the 
like  length  of  days  and  old  age,  which  the  ancient  people  had 
arrived  at  before. 

8.  When  Noah  had  made  these  supplications,  God,  who 
loved  the  man  for  his  righteousness,  granted  entire  success 
to  his  prayers  ;  and  said,  that  it  was  not  he  who  brought  the 
destruction  on  a  polluted  world,  but  that  they  underwent  that 
vengeance  on  account  of  their  own  wickedness  ;  and  that  he 
had  not  brought  men  into  the  world,  if  he  had  himself  deter¬ 
mined  to  destroy  them,  it  being  an  instance  of  greater  wisdom 
not  to  have  granted  them  life  at  all,  than,  after  it  was  granted, 
to  procure  their  destruction  :  but  the  injuries,  said  he,  they 
offered  to  my  holiness  and  virtue,  forced  me  to  bring  this  pun¬ 
ishment  upon  them.  But  I  will  leave  off  for  the  time  to 
come  to  require  such  punishments,  the  effects  of  so  great 
wrath,  for  their  future  wicked  actions,  especially  on  account 
of  thy  prayers.  But  if  I  shall  at  any  time  send  tempests  of 
rain,  in  an  extraordinary  manner,  be  not  affrighted  at  the 
largeness  of  the  showers,  for  the  water  shall  no  more  over¬ 
spread  the  earth.  However,  I  require  you  to  abstain  from 
shedding  the  blood  of  men,  and  to  keep  yourself  pure  from 
murder ;  and  to  punish  those  that  commit  any  such  thing. 
I  permit  you  to  make  use  of  all  the  other  living  creatures  at 
your  pleasure,  and  as  your  appetites  lead  you  ;  for  I  have 
made  you  lords  of  them  all,  both  of  those  that  walk  on  the 
land,  and  those  that  swim  in  the  waters,  and  of  those  that 
fly  in  the  regions  of  the  air  on  high,  excepting  their  blood, 
for  therein  is  the  life.  But  I  will  give  you  a  sign  that  I  have 
left  off  my  anger,  by  my  bow,  (whereby  is  meant  the  rain¬ 
bow,  for  they  determined  that  the  rainboio  was  the  bow  of 
God.)  And  when  God  had  said  and  promised  thus,  he  went 
away. 

9.  Now  when  Noah  had  lived  three  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  the  flood,  and  all  that  time  happily,  he  died, 
having  lived  the  number  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty  years. 
But  let  no  one  upon  comparing  the  lives  of  the  ancients  with 
our  lives,  and  with  the  few  years  which  we  now  live,  think 
that  what  we  have  said  of  them  is  false  ;  or  make  the  short¬ 
ness  of  our  lives  at  present  an  argument,  that  neither  did 
they  attain  to  so  long  a  duration  of  life,  for  those  ancients 
were  beloved  of  God,  and  [lately]  made  by  God  himself ; 
and  because  their  food  was  then  fitter  for  the  prolongation  of 
life,  might  well  live  so  great  a  number  of  years  :  and  besides, 
God  afforded  them  a  longer  time  of  life  on  account  of  their 
virtue,  and  the  good  use  they  made  of  it  in  astronomical  and 
geometrical  discoveries,  which  would  not  have  afforded  the 


92 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  I. 


time  for  foretelling  [the  periods  of  the  stars,]  unless  they  had 
lived  six  hundred  years  ;  for  the  Great  Year  is  completed  in 
that  interval.  Now  I  have  for  witnesses  to  what  I  have  said,  all 
those  that  have  written  Antiquities,  both  among  the  Greeks 
and  Barbarians  :  for  even  Manetho,  who  wrote  the  Egyptian 
history,  and  Berosus,  who  collected  the  Chaldean  monuments, 
and  Mochus,  Hestiaeus,  and  besides  these,  Hieronymus  the 
Egyptian,  and  those  that  composed  the  Phoenician  history, 
agree  to  what  I  here  say  :  Hesiod  also,  and  Hecataeus,  and 
Hellanicus,  and  Acusilaus  ;  and,  besides  these,  Ephorus  and 
Nicolaus  relate,  that  the  ancients  lived  a  thousand  years.  But 
as  to  these  matters,  let  every  one  look  upon  them  as  they 
think  fit. 


CHAP.  IV. 

Concerning  the  Tower  of  Babylon ,  and  the  confusion  of 

Tongues. 

§  1.  Now  the  sons  of  Noah  were  three,  Shem,  Japhet,  and 
Ham,  born  one  hundred  years  before  the  deluge.  These 
first  of  all  descended  from  the  mountains  into  the  plains,  and 
fixed  their  habitations  there  ;  persuaded  others  who  were 
greatly  afraid  of  the  lower  grounds  on  account  of  the  flood, 
and  so  were  very  loth  to  come  down  from  the  higher  places, 
to  venture  to  follow  their  examples.  Now  the  plain  in  which 
they  first  dwelt  was  called  Shinar.  God  also  commanded 
them  to  send  colonies  abroad,  for  the  thorough  peopling  of 
the  earth,  that  they  might  not  raise  seditions  among  them¬ 
selves,  but  might  cultivate  a  great  part  of  the  earth,  and  enjoy 
its  fruits  after  a  plentiful  manner.  But  they  were  so  ill  in¬ 
structed  that  they  did  not  obey  God  5  for  which  reason  they 
tell  into  calamities,  and  were  made  sensible  by  experience,  of 
what  sin  they  had  been  guilty  :  for  when  they  flourished  with 
a  numerous  youth,  God  admonished  them  again  to  send  out 
colonies  ;  but  they  imagining  that  the  prosperity  they  enjoy¬ 
ed  was  not  derived  from  the  favour  of  God,  but  supposing 
that  their  own  power  was  the  proper  cause  of  the  plentiful 
condition  they  were  in,  did  not  obey  him.  Nay,  they  added 
to  this  their  disobedience  to  the  divine  will,  the  suspicion  that 
they  were  therefore  ordered  to  send  out  separate  colonies,  that 
being  divided  asunder  they  might  the  more  easily  be  oppressed. 

2.  Now  it  was  Nimrod  who  excited  them  to  such  an  affront 
and  contempt  of  pod.  He  was  the  grand-son  of  Ham,  the 
son  of  Noah,  a  bold  man,  and  of  great  strength  of  hand.  He 
persuaded  them  pot  to  ascribe  it  to  God,  as  if  it  tvas  through 


OF  THE  JEWS, 


93 


Chap.  V. 

his  means  they  were  happy,  but  to  believe  that  it  was  their 
own  courage  which  procured  that  happiness.  He  also  grad¬ 
ually  changed  the  government  into  tyranny,  seeing  no  other 
way  of  turning  men  from  the  fear  of  God,  but  to  bring  them 
into  a  constant  dependence  upon  his  power.  He  also  said, 

He  would  be  revenged  on  God,  if  he  should  have  a  mind 
to  drown  the  world  again;  for  that  he  would  build  a  tower 
too  high  for  the  waters  to  be  able  to  reach;  and  that  he  would 
avenge  himself  on  God  for  destroying  their  forefathers.” 

3.  Now  the  multitude  were  very  ready  to  follow  the  deter¬ 
mination  of  Nimrod,  and  to  esteem  it  a  piece  of  cowardice  to 
submit  to  God  ;  and  they  built  a  tower,  neither  sparing  any 
pains,  nor  being  in  any  degree  negligent  about  the  work :  and, 
by  reason  of  the  multitude  of  hands  employed  in  it,  it  grew 
very  high,  sooner  than  any  one  could  expect ;  but  the  thick¬ 
ness  of  it  was  so  great,  and  it  was  so  strongly  built,  that  there), 
by  its  great  height  seemed,  upon  the  view,  to  be  less  than  i£ 
really  was.  It  was  built  of  burnt  bricks,  cemented  together 
with  mortar,  made  of  bitumen,  that  it  might  not  be  liable  to 
admit  water  When  God  saw  that  they  acted  so  madly,  he 
did  not  resolve  to  destroy  them  utterly,  since  they  were  not 
grown  wiser  by  the  destruction  of  the  former  sinners,  but  he 
caused  a  tumult  among  them,  by  producing  in  them  divers 
languages,  and  causing  that  through  the  multitude  of  those 
languages,  they  should  not  be  able  10  understand  one  another. 
The  place  wherein  they  built  the  tower,  is  now  called  Babylon , 
because  of  the  confusion  of  that  language  which  they  readily 
understood  before  :  for  the  Hebrews  mean  by  the  word  Ba¬ 
bel,  Confusion.  The  Sibyl  also  makes  mention  of  this  tow¬ 
er,  and  of  the  confusion  of  the  language,  when  she  says  thus  : 
((  When  all  men  were  of  one  language,  some  of  them  built 
an  high  tower,  as  if  they  would  thereby  ascend  up  to  heaven, 
but  the  gods  sent  storms  of  wind  and  overthrew  the  tower, 
and  gave  every  one  his  peculiar  language  ;  and  for  this  rea¬ 
son  it  was  that  the  city  was  called  Babylon .”  But  as  to  the 
plain  of  Shinar,  in  the  country  of  Babylonia,  Hestiaeus  men¬ 
tions  it,  when  he  says  thus :  “  Such  of  the  priests  as  were 
saved,  took  the  sacred  vessels  of  Jupiter  Enyalius,  and  came 
to  Shiniar  of  Babylonia.” 

CHAP.  V. 

After  what  manner  the  posterity  of  Noah  sent  out  colonies 
and  inhabited  the  whole  earth. 

§  1.  After  this  they  were  dispersed  abroad,  on  account 
af  their  languages,  and  went  out  by  colonies  every  where  5 


04 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  I 


and  each  colony  took  possession  of  that  land  which  they  light 
upon,  and  unto  which  God  led  them,  so  that  the  whole  conti¬ 
nent  was  filled  with  them,  both  the  island  and  the  maritime 
countries.  There  were  some  also  who  passed  over  the  sea 
in  ships,  and  inhabited  the  islands  :  and  some  of  those  nations 
do  still  retain  the  denominations  which  were  given  them  by 
their  first  founders  ;  but  some  have  lost  them  also,  and  some 
have  only  admitted  certain  changes  in  them,  that  they  might 
be  the  more  intelligible  to  the  inhabitants.  And  they  were 
the  Greeks  who  became  the  authors  of  such  mutations  :  for 
when,  in  after  ages,  they  grew  potent,  they  claimed  to  them¬ 
selves  the  glory  of  antiquity ;  giving  names  to  the  nations 
that  sounded  well  [in  Greek,]  that  they  might  be  better  un¬ 
derstood  among  themselves  ;  and  setting  agreeable  forms  of 
government  over  them,  as  if  they  were  a  people  derived  from 
themselves. 

CHAP.  VI. 

Slow  every  nation  xvas  denominated  from  their  first  inhabit¬ 
ants. 

§  1.  Now  they  were  the  grand-children  of  Noah,  in  hon¬ 
our  of  whom,  names  were  imposed  on  the  nations  by  those 
♦hat  first  seized  upon  them.  Japhet,  the  son  of  Noah,  had 
seven  sons  :  they  inhabited  so,  that  beginning  at  the  moun¬ 
tains  Taurus  and  Amanus,  they  proceeded  along  Asia,  as  far 
as  the  river  Tanis,  and  along  Europe  to  Cadiz  ;  and  settling 
themselves  on  the  lands  they  light  upon,  which  none  had  in¬ 
habited  before,  they  called  the  nations  by  their  own  names. 
JFor  Gomer  founded  those  whom  the  Greeks  now  call  Gala¬ 
tians,  [Galls, ]  but  were  then  called  Gomerites.  Magog  foun¬ 
ded  those  that  from  him  were  named  Magogites,  but  who  are 
by  the  Greeks  called  Scythians.  Now  as  to  Javan  and  Ma- 
dai,  the  sons  of  Japhet;  from  Madai  came  the  Madeans, 
which  are  called  Medes  by  the  Greeks  :  but  from  Javan,  and 
Jonia,  all  the  Grecians  are  derived.  Thobel  founded  the 
Thobelites,  which  are  now  called  Ibrrrs ;  and  the  Mosocheni 
were  founded  by  Mosoch  ;  now  they  are  Cappa<!ocians. 
There  is  also  a  mark  of  their  ancient  denomination  still  to  be 
showed  ;  for  there  is  even  now  among  them  a  city  called  Ma- 
zaca,  which  may  inform  those  that  are  able  to  understand, 
that  so  was  the  entire  nation  once  called.  Thiras  also  called 
those  whom  he  ruled  over  Thirasians  ;  but  the  Greeks  chan¬ 
ged  the  name  into  Thracians.  And  so  many  were  the  coun¬ 
tries  that  had  the  children  of  Japhet  for  their  inhabitants. 
Of  the  three  sons  of  Gomer,  Aschanaz  founded  the  Asckana* 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


93 


Chap.  VI. 

sians,  who  are  now  called  by  the  Greeks  Rheginians.  So  did 
Rip  hath  found  the  Ripheans,  now  called  Paphlagonians  ;  and 
Thrugramma  the  Thrugrammeans,  who,  as  the  Greeks  resol¬ 
ved,  were  named  Phrygians.  Of  the  three  sons  of  Javan 
also,  the  son  of  Japhet,  Elisa  gave  name  to  the  Eliseans,  who 
were  his  subjects  ;  they  are  now  the  Aeolians.  Tharsus  to  the 
Tharsians  ;  for  so  was  Cilicia  of  old  called  ;  the  sign  of 
which  is  this,  that  the  noblest  city  they  have,  and  a  metropolis 
also,  is  Tarsus,  the  Tau,  being  by  change  put  for  the  Theta. 
Cethimus  possessed  the  island  Cethima  ;  it  is  now  called  Cy¬ 
prus  :  and  from  that  it  is  that  all  islands,  and  the  greatest 
part  of  the  sea-coasts,  are  named  Cethim  by  the  Hebrews  ; 
and  one  city  there  is  in  Cyprus  that  has  been  able  to  preserve 
its  denomination  ;  it  is  called  Citius,  by  those  who  use  the 
language  of  the  Greeks,  and  has  not,  by  the  use  of  that  dia¬ 
lect,  escaped  the  name  of  Cethim.  And  so  many  nations 
have  the  children  and  grand-children  of  Japhet.  possessed. 
Now  when  I  have  premised  somewhat  which  perhaps  the 
Greeks  do  not  know,  I  will  return  and  explain  what  I  have 
omitted  ;  for  such  names  are  pronounced  here  after  the  man¬ 
ner  of  the  Greeks,  to  please  my  readers,  for  our  own  country 
language  does  not  so  pronounce  them :  but  the  names  in  all  ca¬ 
ses  are  of  one  and  the  same  ending  ;  for  the  name  we  here 
pronounce  JSoeus,  is  there  Noah,  and  in  every  case  retains 
the  same  termination. 

2.  The  children  of  Ham  possessed  the  land  from  Syria  and 
Amanus,  and  the  mountains  of  Libanus,  seizing  upon  all  that 
was  on  its  sea-coasts,  and  as  far  as  the  ocean,  and  keeping  it 
as  their  own.  Some  indeed  of  its  names  are  utterly  vanish¬ 
ed  away  ;  others  of  them  being  changed,  and  another  sound 
given  them,  are  hardly  to  be  discovered,  yet  a  few  there  are 
which  have  kept  their  denomination  entire  ;  for  of  the  four 
sons  of  Ham,  time  has  not  at  all  hurt  the  name  of  Chus  ;  for 
the  Ethiopians,  over  whom  he  reigned,  are  even  at  this  day, 
both  by  themselves,  and  by  all  men  in  Asia,  called  Chusites . 
The  memory  also  of  the  Mesraites  is  preserved  in  their  name; 
for  all  we  who  inhabit  the  country  [of  Judea]  call  Egypt 
Mestre,  and  the  Egyptians  Mestreans.  Phut  also  was  the 
founder  of  Libya,  and  called  the  inhabitants  Phutites ,  from 
himself;  there  is  also  a  river  in  the  country  of  the  Moors 
which  bears  that  name;  win  nee  it  is  that  we  may  see  the 
greatest  part  of  the  Grecian  historiographers  mention  that 
river  and  the  adjoining  country,  by  the  appellation  of  Phut  / 
but  the  name  it  has  now,  has  been  by  change  given  it  from 
one  of  the  sons  of  Mestraim,  who  was  called  Lybios.  We 
will  inform  you  presently  what  was  the  occasion  why  it  has 
been  called  Africa  also.  Canaan,  the  fourth  son  of  Ham, 


96  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  I. 

inhabited  the  country  now  called  Judea ,  and  called  it  from 
his  own  name  Canaan.  The  children  of  these  [four]  were 
these  :  Sabas,  who  founded  the  Sabeans  ;  Evilas,  who  found¬ 
ed  the  Evileans,  who  are  called  Gentidi  ;  Sabathes  founded 
the  Sabathens  ;  they  are  now  called  by  the  Greeks  Astabo- 
rans  :  Sabactas  settled  the  Sabactens  ;  and  Ragmus  the  Rag- 
means  ;  and  he  had  two  sons,  the  one  of  which,  Judadas, 
settled  the  Judadeans,  a  nation  of  the  western  Ethiopians, 
and  left  them  his  name  ;  as  did  Sabas  to  the  Sabeans  :  but 
Nimrod,  the  son  of  Chus,  stayed  and  tyrannized  at  Babylon, 
as  we  have  already  informed  you.  Now  all  the  children  of 
Mesraim,  being  eight  in  number,  possessed  the  country  from 
Gaza  to  Egypt,  though  it  retained  the  name  of  one  only,  the 
Philistim,  for  the  Greeks  call  part  of  that  country  Palestine. 
As  for  the  rest,  Ludieim,  and  Enemim,  and  Labim,  who 
alone  inhabited  Lybya,  and  called  the  country  from  himself: 
Nedim,  and  Phethrosim,  and  Chcsloim,  and  Cephthorim,  we 
know  nothing  of  them  beside  their  names  ;  for  the*  Ethiopic 
war,  which  we  shall  describe  hereafter,  was  the  cause  that 
those  cities  were  overthrown.  The  sons  of  Canaan  were 
these,  Sidonius,  who  also  built  a  city  of  the  same  name  ;  it  is 
called  by  the  Greeks  Sidon;  Amathus  inhabited  in  Arnathine, 
which  is  now  called  Amathe  by  the  inhabitants,  although  the 
.Macedonians  named  it  Epiphania,from  one  of  his  posterity  : 
Arudeus  possessed  the  island  Aradus  :  Arucas  possessed 
Arce,  which  is  in  Libanus.  But  for  the  seven  others  [Eueus,] 
Chetteus,  Jehuseus,  Amorreus,  Georgeseus,  Eudeus,  Sineus, 
Samareus,  we  have  nothing  in  the  sacred  books  but  their 
names,  for  the  Hebrews  overthrew  their  cities  ;  and  their 
calamities  came  upon  them  on  the  occasion  following. 

3.  Noah,  when  after  the  deluge,  the  earth  was  resettled  in 
its  former  condition,  set  about  its  cultivation  ;  and  when  he 
had  planted  it  with  vines,  and  when  the  fruit  was  ripe,  and 
he  had  gathered  the  grapes  in  their  season,  and  the  wine  was 
ready  for  use,  he  offered  sacrifice,  and  feasted,  and  being 
drunk,  he  fell  asleep,  and  lay  naked  in  an  unseemly  man¬ 
ner.  When  his  youngest  son  saw  this,  he  came  laughing,  and 
showed  him  to  his  brethren  ;  but  they  covered  their  father’s 


*  One  observation  here  ought  not  to  be  neglected,  with  regard  to 
that  Ethiopic  war,  which  Moses,  as  general  of  the  Egyptians,  put  an  end 
to,  Antiq.  B.  ii.  ch.  v.  and  about  which  our  late  writer  seems  very  much 
concerned,  viz.  that  it  was  a  war  of  that  consequence,  as  to  occasion  the 
removal  or  destruction  of  six  or  seven  nations  of  the  posterity  of  Mitz- 
raiin,  with  their  cities ;  which  Josephus  would  not  have  said,  if  he  had 
not  had  ancient  records  to  justify  those  his  assertions,  though  Copse  re¬ 
cords  be  now  all  fost. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


97 


Chap.  VI. 

nakedness.  And  when  Noah  was  made  sensible  of  what  had 
been  done,  he  prayed  for  prosperity  to  his  other  sons ;  but  for 
Ham,  he  did  not  curse  him,  by  reason  of  his  nearness  in  blood,, 
but  cursed  his  posterity;  and  when  the  rest  of  them  escaped 
that  curse,  God  inflicted  it  on  the  children  of  Canaan.  But  as 
to  those  matters  we  shall  speak  more  hereafter. 

4  Shem,  the  third  son  of  Noah,  had  five  sons,  who  inhabit¬ 
ed  the  land  that  began  at  Euphrates,  and  reached  to  the  In¬ 
dian  ocean.  For  Elam  left  behind  him  the  Elamites,  the  an¬ 
cestors  of  the  Persians.  Ashur  lived  at  the  city  Ninive  ;  and 
named  his  subjects  Assyrians ,  who  became  the  most  fortun¬ 
ate  nation  beyond  others.  Arphaxad  named  the  Arphax - 
adites,  who  are  now  called  Chaldeans.  Aram  had  the  Aram- 
ites,  which  the  Greeks  call  Syrians',  as  Laud  founded  the 
Laudites,  which  are  now  called  Lydians.  Of  the  four  sons 
of  Aram,  Uz  founded  Trachonitis  and  Damascus  ;  this  coun¬ 
try  lies  between  Palestine  and  Coelosyria.  U1  founded  Ar¬ 
menia  ;  and  Gather  the  Bactrians  ;  and  Mesa  the  Mesaneans; 
it  is  now  called  Charax  Spasini.  Sala  was  the  son  of  Ar¬ 
phaxad  ;  and  his  son  was  Heber,  from  whom  they  originally 
called  the  Jews  *  Hebrews.  Heber  begat  Joctan  and  Phaleg: 
he  was  called  Phaleg  because  he  was  born  at  the  dispersion 
of  the  nations  to  their  several  countries;  for  Phaleg  among 
the  Hebrews  signifies  division.  Now  Joctan,  one  of  the  sons 
of  Heber,  had  these  sons,  Elmodad,  Saleph,  Asermoth,  Jera, 
Adoram,  Aziel,  Decla,  Elbal,  Abimael,  Sabeus,  Ophir,  Euilat 
and  Jobab.  These  inhabited  from  Cophen,  an  indian  river, 
and  in  part  of  Aria  adjoining  to  it.  And  this  shall  suffice 
concerning  the  sons  of  Shem. 

5  I  will  now  treat  of  the  Hebrews.  The  son  of  Phaleg, 
whose  father  was  Ileber,  was  Ragau ;  whose  son  was  Serug; 
to  whom  was  born  Nahor:  his  son  was  Terah,  who  tVas  the 
lather  of  Abraham,  who  accordingly  was  the  tenth  from  No¬ 
ah,  and  was  born  in  the  two  hundred  and  ninety-second  year 
after  the  deluge;  for  Terah  begat  Abraham  in  his  seventieth 
year.  Nahor  begat  Haran,  when  he  wras  one  hundred  and 


*  That  the  Jews  were  called  Hebrews  (v om  this  their  progenitor  Ile¬ 
ber,  our  author  Josephus  here  rightly  affirms ;  and  not  from  Abram  the 
Hebrew,  or  Passenger  over  Euphrates,  as  many  of  the  moderns  suppose. 
Shem  is  also  called  the  Father  of  all  the  children  of  Ileber,  or  of  all  the 
Hebrews,  in  an  history  long  before  Abram  passed  over  Euphrates,  Gen, 
X.  21,  though  it  must  be  confessed,  that  Gen.  xiv.  13,  where  the  original 
says,  they  told  Abram  the  Hebrew,  the  Spetuagint  renders  it,  the  Pas¬ 
senger,  7rte% ntr:  but  this  is  spoken  only  of  Abraham  himself,  who  had 
then  lately  passed  over  Euphrates,  and  isnnother  signiikation  of  the  He» 
brew  word,  taken  as  an  appellative,  and  not  as  a  proper  name, 

VOL.  I.  I 


98  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  L 

twenty  years  old :  Nahor  was  born  to  Serug  at  his  hundred 
and  thirty-second  year;  Ragau  had  Serug  at  one  hundred 
and  thirty  ;  at  the  same  age  also  Phaleg  had  Ragau  :  Heber 
begat  Phaleg  in  his  hundred  and  thirty -fourth  year;  he  him¬ 
self  being  begotten  by  Sala  when  we  was  an  hundred  and 
thirty  years  old,  whom  Arphaxad  had  for  his  son  at  the  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  Arphaxad  was  the  son 
of  Shem,  and  born  twelve  years  after  the  deluge.  Now 
Abram  had  two  brethren,  Nahor  and  Haran  :  of  these,  Ha- 
ran  left  a  son,  Lot;  as  also  Sarai  and  Milcha  his  daughters; 
and  died  among  the,  Chaldeans,  in  a  city  of  the  Chaldeans 
called  Ur  :  and  his  monument  is  showed  to  this  day.  These 
married  their  nieces.  Nahor  married  Milcha,  and  Abram 
married  Sarai.  Now  Terah  hating  Chaldea,  on  acoount  of 
his  mourning  for  Haran,  they  all  removed  to  Haran  of  me- 
sopotamia,  where  Terah  died,  and  was  buried,  when  he  had 
lived  to  be  two  hundred  and  five  years  old  ;  for  the  life  of 
men  was  already,  by  degrees,  diminished,  and  became  short¬ 
er  than  before,  till  the  birth  of  Moses ;  after  whom  the  term 
of  human  life  was  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  God  de¬ 
termining  it  to  the  length  that  Moses  happened  to  live.  Now 
Nahor  had  eight  sons  by  Milcha.  Uz  and  Buz,  Kemuel, 
Chesed,  Azau,  Pheldas,  Jadelph,  and  Bethuel.  These  were 
all  the  genuine  sons  of  Nahor  ;  for  Teba  and  Gaam,  and  Ta- 
chas,  and  Maaca,  were  born  of  Reuma  his  concubine ;  but 
Rethuel  had  a  daughter  Rebecca,  and  a  son  Laban. 

CHAP.  VIL 

'How  Abram  our  forefather  went  out  of  the  land  of  the  Chal- 

deanSj  and  lived  in  the  land  then  called  Canaan ,  but  now 

Judea. 

§  1.  Now  Abram  having  no  son  of  his  own,  adopted 
Lot,  his  brother  Haran’s  son,  and  his  wife  Sarai’s  brother ; 
and  he  left  the  land  of  Chaldea,  when  he  was  seventy-five 
years  old,  and  at  the  command  of  God  went  into  Canaan,  and 
therein  he  dwelt  himself,  and  left  it  to  his  posterity.  He 
was  a  person  of  great  sagacity,  both  for  understanding  all 
things,  and  persuading  his  hearers,  and  not  mistaken  in  his 
opinions ;  for  which  reason  he  began  to  have  higher  notions 
of  virtue  than  others  had,  and  he  determined  to  renew  and 
to  change  the  opinion  all  men  happened  then  to  have  con¬ 
cerning  God ;  for  be  was  the  first  that  ventured  to  publish, 
this  notion,  that  there  was  but  one  God,  the  Creator  of  the 
universe  ;  and  that  as  to  other  [gods,]  if  they  contributed  any 
thing  to  the  happiness  of  men,  that  each  of  them  afforded  it 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


99 


Chap.  VIII. 

only  according  to  his  appointment,  and  not  by  their  own  pow» 
er.  This  his  opinion  was  derived  from  the  irregular  phe¬ 
nomena  that  were  visible  both  at  land  and  sea,  as  well  as  those 
that  happened  to  the  sun  and  moon,  and  all  the  heavenly  bo¬ 
dies  thus  :  u  If  [said  he]  these  bodies  had  power  of  their  own, 
they  would  certainly  take  care  of  their  own  regular  motions  $ 
but  since  they  do  not  preserve  such  regularity,  they  make  it 
plain,  that  so  far  as  they  co-operate  to  our  advantage,  they 
do  it  not  of  their  own  abilities,  but  as  they  are  subservient  to 
him  that  commands  them,  to  whom  alone  we  ought  justly  to 
offer  our  honour  and  thanksgiving.”  For  which  doctrines, 
when  the  Chaldeans,  and  people  of  Mesopotamia,  raised  a 
tumult  against  him,  he  thought  fit  to  leave  that  country  ;  and 
at  the  command,  and  by  the  assistance  of  God,  he  came  and 
lived  in  the  land  of  Canaan  :  and  when  he  was  there  settled, 
he  built  an  altar,  and  performed  a  sacrifice  to  God. 

2.  Berosus  mentions  our  father  Abram  without  naming 
him,  when  he  says  thus  :  “  In  the  tenth  generation  after  the 
flood,  there  was  among  the  Chaldeans  a  man,  righteous,  and 
great,  and  skilful  in  the  celestial  science.”  But  Hecateus 
does  more  than  barely  mention  him  ;  for  he  composed  and 
left  behind  him  a  book  concerning  him.  And  Nicolaus  of 
Damascus,  in  the  fourth  book  of  his  history,  says  thus  ; 

Abram  reigned  at  Damascus,  being  a  foreigner,  who  came 
with  an  army  out  of  the  land  above  Babylon,  called  the  land 
of  the  Chaldeans  :  but  after  a  long  time  he  got  him  up,  and 
removed  from  that  country  also,  with  his  people,  and  went 
into  the  land  then  called  the  land  of  Canaan ,  but  now  the 
land  of  Judea ,  and  this  when  his  posterity  were  become  a 
multitude ;  as  to  which  posterity  of  his  we  relate  their  histo 
ry  in  another  work.  Now  the  name  of  Abram  is  even  still 
famous  in  the  country  of  Damascus  ;  and  there  is  showed  a 
village  named  from  him,  The  Habitation  of  AbramP 


CHAP.  VIII. 

That  when  there  was  a  famine  in  Canaan ,  Abram  went 
thence  into  Egypt ;  and  after  he  had  continued  therefor 
a  while,  he  returned  back  again. 

§  1.  Now  after  this,  when  a  famine  had  invaded  the  land 
of  Canaan,  and  Abram  had  discovered  that  the  Egyptians 
W’ere  in  a  flourishing  condition,  he  was  disposed  to  go  down 
to  them,  both  to  partake  of  the  plenty  they  enjoyed,  and  to 
become  an  auditor  for  their  priests,  and  to  know  what  they 
Said  concerning  the  gods ;  designing  either  to  follow  them,  if 


100 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  I. 


they  had  better  notions  than  he,  or  to  convert  them  into  a  bet¬ 
ter  way,  if  his  own  notions  proved  the  truest.  Now  seeing 
lie  was  to  take  Sarai  with  him,  and  was  afraid  of  the  madness 
of  the  Egyptians  with  regard  to  women,  lest  the  king  should 
kill  him  on  occasion  of  his  wife’s  great  beauty,  he  contrived 
this  device  :  he  pretended  to  be  her  brother,  and  directed  her 
in  a  dissembling  way  to  pretend  the  same,  for  he  said  it  would 
be  for  their  benefit.  Now  as  soon  as  they  came  to  Egypt,  it 
happened  to  Abram  as  he  supposed  it  would  ;  for  the  fame  of 
his  wife's  beauty  was  greatly  talked  of,  for  which  reason 
Pharaoh,  the  king  of  Egypt,  would  not  be  satisfied  with 
what  was  reported  of  her,  but  wrould  needs  see  her  himself, 
and  was  preparing  to  enjoy  her  ;  but  God  put  a  stop  to  his 
unjust  inclinations,  by  sending  upon  him  a  distemper,  and  a 
sedition  against  his  government.  And  when  he  inquired  of 
the  priests  how  he  might  be  freed  from  these  calamities,  they 
told  him,  that  this  his  miserable  condition  was  derived 
from  the  wrath  of  God,  upon  account  of  his  inclinations  to 
abuse  the  stranger’s  wife.  He  then  out  of  fear  asked  Sarai 
who  she  was,  and  who  it  was  that  she  brought  along  with  her. 
And  w'hen  he  had  found  out  the  truth,  he  excused  himself  to 
Abram,  that  supposing  the  woman  to  be  his  sister,  and  not 
his  wife,  he  set  his  affections  on  her,  as  desiring  an  affinity  with 
him  by  marrying  her,  but  not  as  incited  by  lust  to  abuse  her. 
He  also  made  him  a  large  present  in  money  ;  and  gave  him 
leave  to  enter  into  conversations  with  the  most  learned  among 
the  Egyptians.  From  which  conversations,  his  virtue  and  his 
reputation  became  more  conspicuous  than  they  bad  been  be¬ 
fore. 

2.  For  whereas  the  Egyptians  were  formerly  addicted  to 
different  customs,  and  despised  one  another’s  sacred  and  ac¬ 
customed  rites,  and  were  very  angry  one  with  another  on  that 
account,  Abram  conferred  with  each  of  them,  and  confuting 
the  reasonings  they  made  use  of,  every  one  for  their  own  prac¬ 
tices,  lie  demonstrated  that  such  reasonings  were  vain,  and 
void  of  truth  :  whereupon  he  was  admired  by  them,  in  those 
conferences,  as  a  very  wise  man,  and  one  of  great  sagacity, 
when  he  discoursed  on  any  subject  he  undertook  ;  and  this 
not  only  in  understanding  it,  but  in  persuading  other  men  al¬ 
so  to  assent  to  him.  lie  communicated  to  them  arithmetic, 
and  delivered  to  them  the  science  of  astronomy  ;  for  before 
Abram  came  into  Egypt  they  were  unacquainted  with  those 
parts  of  learning,  for  that  science  came  from  the  Chaldeans 
into  Egypt,  and  from  thence  to  the  Greeks  also. 

3  As  soon  as  Abram  was  come  back  into  Canaan,  he  par¬ 
ted  the  land  between  him  and  Lot,  upon  account  of  the  tu- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


101 


Chap.  IX. 

multuous  behaviour  of  their  shepherds,  concerning  the  pas¬ 
tures  wherein  they  should  feed  their  flocks.  However,  he 
gave  Lot  his  option,  or  leave  to  choose  which  lands  he  would 
take  ;  and  he  took  himself  what  the  other  left,  which  were 
the  lower  grounds  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  ;  and  he  him¬ 
self  dwelt  in  Hebron,  which  is  a  city  seven  years  ancienter 
than  Tanais  of  Egypt.  But  Lot  possessed  the  land  of  the 
plain,  and  the  River  Jordan,  not  far  from  the  city  of  Sodom, 
which  was  then  a  fine  city,  but  is  now  destroyed  by  the  will 
and  the  wrath  of  God  ;  the  cause  of  which  I  shall  show  in 
its  proper  place  hereafter. 

CHAP.  IX. 

The  destruction  of  the  Sodomites  by  the  Assyrian  war. 

§  1.  At  this  time,  when  the  Assyrians  had  the  dominion 
Over  Asia,  the  people  of  Sodom  were  in  a  flourishing  condi¬ 
tion,  both  as  to  riches,  and  the  number  of  their  youth.  There 
Were  five  kings  that  managed  the  affairs  of  this  country,  Bal¬ 
ias,  Barsas,  Senabar,  and  Sumobor,  with  the  king  of  Bela  j 
and  each  king  led  on  his  own  troops  :  and  the  Assyrians  made 
wrar  upon  them,  and  dividing  their  army  into  four  parts, 
fought  against  them.  Now  every  part  of  the  army  had  its 
own  commander ;  and  when  the  battle  was  joined,  the  Assy¬ 
rians  were  conquerors,  and  imposed  a  tribute  upon  the  kings 
of  the  Sodomites,  who  submitted  to  this  slavery  twelve  years ; 
and  so  long  they  continued  to  pay  their  tribute  :  but  on  the 
thirteenth  year  they  rebelled,  and  then  the  army  of  the  As¬ 
syrians  came  upon  them,  under  their  commanders  Amraphel, 
Arioch,  Chedorlaotnor,  and  Tibal.  These  kings  had  laid 
waste  all  Syria,  and  overthrown  the  offsprings  of  the  giants. 
And  when  they  were  come  over  against  Sodom,  they  pitched 
their  camp  at  the  vale  called  the  Slime-pits,  for  at  that  time 
there  were  pits  in  that  place  :  but  now,  upon  the  destruction 
of  the  city  of  Sodom,  that  vale  became  the  Lake  Asphaltitis , 
as  it  is  called  :  however,  concerning  this  lake,  we  shall  speak 
more  presently.  Now  when  the  Sodomites  joined  battle  with 
the  Assyrians,  and  the  fight  was  very  obstinate,  many  of  them 
were  killed,  and  the  rest  were  carried  captive  ;  among  which 
captives  was  Lot,  who  had  come  to  assist  the  Sodomites. 


102 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  J. 


CIIAP.  X. 

How  Abram  fought  with  the  Assyrians ,  and  overcame  them, 

and  saved  the  Sodomite  prisoners ,  and  took  from  the  As¬ 
syrians  the  prey  they  had  gotten. 

§  1.  When  Abram  heard  of  their  calamity,  he  was  at 
once  afraid  for  Lot  his  kinsman,  and  pitied  the  Sodomites, 
his  friends  and  neighbours,  and  thinking  it  proper  to  afford 
them  assistance,  he  did  not  delay  it,  but  marched  hastily,  and 
the  fifth  night  fell  upon  the  Assyrians,  near  Dan,  for  that  is  the 
name  of  the  other  spring  near  Jordan  ;  and  before  they  could 
arm  themselves,  he  slew  some  as  they  were  in  their  beds, 
before  they  could  suspect  any  harm  ;  and  others,  who  were 
not  yet  gone  to  sleep,  but  were  so  drunk  they  could  not  fight, 
ran  away.  Abram  pursued  after  them,  till  on  the  second 
day,  he  drove  them  into  a  body  unto  Hoba,  a  place  belonging 
to  Damascus  ;  and  thereby  demonstrated  that  victory  does  not 
depend  on  multitude,  and  the  number  of  hands,  but  the  alac¬ 
rity  and  courage  of  soldiers  overcome  the  most  numerous 
bodies  of  men,  while  he  got  the  victory  over  so  great  an  ar¬ 
my  with  no  more  than  three  hundred  and  eighteen  of  his  ser¬ 
vants,  and  three  of  his  friends  :  but  all  those  that  fled  return¬ 
ed  home  ingloriotisly. 

2.  So  Abram,  when  he  had  saved  the  captive  Sodomites, 
who  had  been  taken  by  the  Assyrians,  and  Lot  also,  his  kins¬ 
man,  returned  home  in  peace.  Now  the  king  of  Sodom  met 
him  at  a  certain  place,  which  they  called  The  king’s  dale , 
where  Melchisedec,  king  of  the  city  Salem,  received  him. 
That  name  signifies  The  righteous  king  ;  and  such  he  w  as 
without  dispute,  insomuch  that,  on  this  account,  he  was  made 
the  priest  of  God  :  however,  they  afterward  called  it  Salem 
Jerusalem.  Now  this  Melchisedec  supplied  Abram’s  army 
in  an  hospitable  manner,  and  gave  them  provisions  in  abund¬ 
ance  ;  and  as  they  were  feasting,  he  began  to  praise  him,  and 
to  bless  God  for  subduing  his  enemies  under  him.  And  when 
Abram  gave  him  the  tenth  part  of  his  prey,  he  accepted  of 
the  gift :  but  the  king  of  Sodom  desired  Abram  to  take  the 
prey  ;  but  intreated  that  he  might  have  these  men  restored  to 
him  whom  Abram  had  saved  from  the  Assyrians,  because 
they  belonged  to  him.  But  Abram  would  not  do  so ;  nor 
would  make  any  other  advantcge  of  that  prey,  than  what  his 
Servants  had  eaten  ;  but  still  insisted  that  he  should  afford  a 
part  to  his  friends  that  had  assisted  him  in  the  battle.  The  first 
of  them  was  called  Eschol,  and  then  Enner  and  Mambre. 

3.  And  God  commended  his  virtue,  and  said,  Thou  shall 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


103 


■C hap.  X. 

not  however  lose  the  reward  thou  hast  deserved  to  receive 
by  such  thy  glorious  actions.  He  answered,  And  what  ad¬ 
vantage  will  it  be  to  me  to  have  such  rewards,  when  I  have 
none  to  enjoy  them  after  me;  for  he  was  hitherto  childless. 
And  God  promised  that  he  should  have  a  son,  and  that  his 
posterity  should  be  very  numerous,  insomuch  that  their  num¬ 
ber  should  be  like  the  stars.  When  he  heard  that,  he  offered 
a  sacrifice  to  God,  as  he  commanded  him.  The  manner  of 
the  sacrifice  was  this  ;*  he  took  an  heifer  of  three  years  old, 
and  a  she-goat  of  three  years  old,  and  a  ram  in  like  manner 
of  three  years  old,  and  a  turtle-dove,  and  a  pigeon  ;  and  as 
he  was  enjoined,  he  divided  the  three  former,  but  the  birds 
he  did  not  divide.  After  which,  before  he  built  his  altar, 
where  the  birds  of  prey  flew  about  as  desirous  of  blood,  a 
divine  voice  came  to  him,  declaring  that  their  neighbours  would 
be  grievous  to  his  posterity,  when  they  should  be  in  Egypt, 
fort  four  hundred  years  j  during  which  time  they  should  be 
afflicted,  but  afterward  should  overcome  their  enemies,  should 
conquer  the  Canaanites  in  war,  and  possess  themselves  of 
•their  land,  and  of  their  cities. 

4.  Now  Abram  dwelt  near  the  Oak  called  Ogygcs  ;  the 
place  belongs  to  Canaan,  not  far  from  the  city  of  Hebron. 
But  being  uneasy  at  his  wife’s  barrenness,  he  entreated  God  to 
grant  that  he  might  have  male  issue  :  and  God  required  of 
him  to  be  of  courage  ;  and  said,  that  he  would  add  to  all  the 
rest  of  the  benefits  that  he  had  bestowed  upon  him  ever  since 
he  led  him  out  of  Mesopotamia,  the  gift  of  children.  Accor¬ 
dingly  Sarai,  at  God’s  command,  brought  to  his  bed  one  of 
her  hand-maidens,  a  woman  of  Egyptian  descent,  in  order  to 
obtain  children  by  her  ;  and  when  this  hand-maid  was  with 
child,  she  triumphed,  and  ventured  to  affront  Sarai,  as  if  the 
dominion  were  to  come  to  a  son  to  be  born  of  her.  But  when 
Abram  resigned  her  into  the  hand  of  Sarai,  to  punish  her. 
she  contrived  to  fly  away,  as  not  able  to  bear  the  instances 
of  Sarai’s  severity  to  her ;  and  she  entreated  God  to  have 
compassion  on  lier.  Now  a  divine  angel  met  her,  as  she  was 
going  forward  in  the  wilderness,  and  bid  her  return  to  her 
master  and  mistress,  for  if  she  would  submit  to  that  wise  ad¬ 
vice,  she  would  live  better  hereafter  ;  for  that  the  reason  of 


*  It  is  worth  nothing  here,  that  God  required  no  other  sacrifices  under 
the  law  of  Moses,  than  what  were  taken  from  these  five  kinds  ofanimals, 
which  he  here  required  of  Abraham  ;  nor  did  the  Jews  feed  upon  any 
other  domestic  animals  than  the  three  here  named,  as  Reland  observes 
on  Antiq.  B.  iv.  chap,  iv  §  4. 

t  As  to  this  affliction  of  Abraham's  posterity  for  400  years,  See  An- 
iiq.  B.  ii.  ch.  ix.  §  1. 


104  ANTIQUITIES  Boole  t 

her  being  in  sucb  a  miserable  case  was  this,  that  she  had  been 
ungrateful  and  arrogant  towards  her  mistress.  He  also  told 
her,  that  if  she  disobeyed  God,  and  went  on  still  in  her 
way,  she  should  perish  ;  but  if  she  would  return  back,  she 
should  become  the  mother  of  a  son  who  should  reign  over 
that  country.  These  admonitions  she  obeyed,  and  returned 
to  her  master  and  mistress,  and  obtained  forgiveness.  A  lit¬ 
tle  while  afterwards,  she  bare  Ishmael,  which  may  be  inter¬ 
preted,  Heard  of  God,  because  God  had  heard  his  mother’s 
prayer. 

5.  The  fore-mentioned  son  was  born  to  Abram  when  he 
was  eighty-six  years  old  :  but  when  he  was  ninety-nine,  God 
appeared  to  him  and  promised  him,  that  he  should  have  a  son 
by  Sarai,  and  commanded  that  his  name  should  be  Isaac  : 
and  showed  him,  that  from  this  son  should  spring  great  nations 
and  kings,  and  that  they  should  obtain  all  the  land  of  Canaan 
by  war,  from  Sidon  to  Egypt.  But  he  charged  him,  in  order 
to  keep  his  posterity  unmixed  with  others,  that  they  should 
be  circumcised  in  the  flesh  of  their  foreskin,  and  that  this 
should  be  done  on  the  eighth  day  after  they  were  born  ;  the 
reason  of  which  circumcision  I  will  explain  in  another  place. 
And  Abram  inquiring  also  concerning  Ishmael,  whether  he 
should  live  or  not,  God  signified  to  him,  that  he  should  live 
to  be  very  old,  and  should  be  the  father  of  great  nations  : 
Abram  therefore  gave  thanks  to  God  for  these  blessings  ;  and 
then  he  and  all  his  family,  and  his  son  Ishmael,  were  circumci¬ 
sed  immediately  ;  the  son  being  that  day  thirteen  years  of  age, 
and  he  ninety -nine. 


CIIAP.  XL 

TIow  God  overthrew  the  nation  of  the  Sodomites,  out  of  his 
tv  rath  against  them  for  their  sins. 

§  1.  About  this  time  theJSodomites  grew  proud,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  their  riches  and  great  wealth  ;  they  became  unjust 
towards  men,  and  impious  towards  God,  insomuch  that  they 
did  not  call  to  mind  the  advantages  they  received  from  him  ; 
they  hated  strangers,  and  abused  themselves  with  Sodomitic- 
al  practices.  God  was  therefore  much  displeased  at  them, 
and  determined  to  punish  them  for  their  pride,  and  overthrow 
their  city,  and  to  lay  waste  their  country,  until  there  should 
neither  plant  nor  fruit  grow  out  of  it. 

2.  When  God  had  thus  resolved  concerning  the  Sodomites, 
Abraham,  as  he  sat  by  the  oak  of  Marnbre,  at  the  door  of  his 
tent,  saw  three  angels  ;  and  thinking  them  to  be  strangers, 
he  rose  up,  and  saluted  them,  and  desired  they  would  accept- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


105 


Chap.  XL 


of  an  entertainment,  and  abide  with  him  ;  to  which,  when 
they  agreed,  he  ordered  cakes  of  meal  to  be  made  presently  j 
and  when  he  had  slain  a  calf,  he  roasted  it,  and  brought  it  to 
them,  as  they  sat  under  the  oak.  Now  they  made  a  show  of 
eating;  and  besides,  they  asked  him  about  his  wife  Sarah, 
Where  she  was,  and  when  he  said  she  was  within,  they  said 
they  should  come  again  hereafter,  and  find  her  become  a 
mother.  Upon  which  the  woman  laughed,  and  said,  that  it 
was  impossible  she  should  bear  children,  since  she  was  nine¬ 
ty  years  of  age,  and  her  husband  was  an  hundred.  Then 
they  concealed  themselves  no  longer,  but  declared  that  they 
were  angels  of  God  ;  and  that  one  of  them  was  sent  to  in¬ 
form  them  about  the  child,  and  two  for  the  overthrow  of  So¬ 
dom. 

3.  When  Abraham  heard  this,  he  was  grieved  for  the  So* * * § 
domites  ;  and  he  rose  up,  and  besought  God  for  them,  and 
entreated  him  that  he  would  not  destroy  the  righteous  with 
the  wicked.  And  when  God  had  replied  that  there  was  no 
good  man  among  the  Sodomites  ;  for  if  there  were  but  ten 
such  men  among  them,  he  would  not  punish  any  of  them  for 
their  sins,  Abraham  held  his  peace.  And  the  angels  came 
to  the  city  of  the  Sodomites,  and  Lot  entreated  them  to  ac¬ 
cept  of  a  lodging  with  him  ;  for  he  was  a  very  generous  and 
hospitable  man,  and  one  that  had  learned  to  imitate  the  good¬ 
ness  of  Abraham.  Now  when  the  Sodomites  saw  the  young 
men  to  be  of  beautiful  countenances,  and  this  to  an  extraor¬ 
dinary  degree,  and  that  they  took  up  their  lodgings  with  Lot, 
they  resolved  themselves  to  enjoy  those  beautiful  boys  by 
force  and  violence  ;  and  when  Lot  exhorted  them  to  sobriety, 
and  not  to  offer  any  thing  immodest  to  the  strangers,  but  to 
have  regard  to  their  lodging  in  his  house  ;  and  promised,  that 
if  their  inclinations  could  not  be  governed,  he  would  expose 
his  daughters  to  their  lust,  instead  of  these  strangers  ;  neither 
thus  were  they  made  ashamed. 

4.  But  God  was  much  displeased  at  their  impudent  beha¬ 
viour,  so  that  he  both  smote  those  men  with  blindness,  and 
condemned  the  Sodomites  to  universal  destruction.  But  Lot, 
upon  God’s  informing  him  of  the  future  destruction  of  the 
■Sodomites,  went  away,  taking  with  him  his  wife,  and  daugh¬ 
ters,  who  were  two,  and  still  virgins ;  for  those  that  w:ere 
^betrothed  to  them  were  above  the  thoughts  of  going,  and 
deemed  that  Lot’s  words  were  trifling.  God  then  cast  a 

*  These  sons-in-law  to  Lot,  as  they  are  called,  Gen.  xis.  12 — 14, 

might  be  so  styled,  because  they  were  betrothed  to  Lot’s  daughters, 

though  not  married  to  them.  See  the  note  on  Antin.  B.  xiv.  ch.  xiii, 

§  1.  vol.  iii. 


Book  I, 


106  ANTIQUITIES 

thunderbolt  upon  the  city,  and  set  it  on  fire  with  its  inha- 
bitants  ;  and  laid  waste  the  country  with  the  like  burning  as 
I  formerly  said  when  I  wrote  the#  Jewish  War.  But  Lot’s 
wife  continually  turning  back  to  view  the  city  as  she  went 
from  it,  and  being  too  nicely  inquisitive  what  would  become 
of  it,  although  God  had  forbidden  her  so  to  do,  was  changed 
into!  a  pillar  of  salt ;  for  I  have  seen  it,  and  it  remains  at 
this  day.  Now  he  and  his  daughters  fled  to  a  certain  small 
place,  encompassed  with  the  fire,  and  settled  in  it ;  it  is  to 
this  day  called  Zoar ,  for  that  is  the  word  which  the  Hebrews 
Use  for  a  small  thing.  There  it  was  that  he  lived  a  miserable 
life,  on  account  of  his  having  no  company,  and  his  want  of 
provisions. 

5.  But  his  daughters  thinking  that  all  mankind  were  de¬ 
stroyed^  approached  to  their  father,  though  taking  care  not 
to  be  perceived.  This  they  did,  that  human  kind  might  not 
Utterly  fail :  and  they  bare  sons  ;  the  son  of  the  elder  was 
named  Moab,  which  denotes  one  derived  from  his  father; 
the  younger  bare  Ammon ,  which  name  denotes  one  derived 
from  a  kinsman.  The  former  of  whom  was  the  father  of  the 
Moabites,  which  is  even  still  a  great  nation  :  the  latter  was 


*  Of  (he  War.  B.  iv  chap  viii  §  4.  vol.  v. 

t  This  pillar  of  salt  was,  we  see  here,  standing  in  the  days  of  Josephus:, 
and  he  had  seen  it.  That  it  was  standing  then  is  also  attested  to  by 
Clement  of  Rome,  cotemporary  with  Josephus ;  as  also  that  it  was  so  in 
tiie  next  century,  is  attested  by  Irenseus,  with  the  addition  of  an  hypo* 
thesis,  how  it  came  to  last  so  long,  with  all  its  members  entire.  Whe¬ 
ther  the  account  that  some  modern  travellers  give  be  true,  that  it  i$ 
still  standing,  I  do  not  know.  Its  remote  situation,  at  the  utmost  sou¬ 
thern  point  of  the  sea  of  Sodom,  in  the  wild  and  dangerous  doserts  oi 
Arabia,  makes  it  exceeding  difficult  for  inquisitive  travellers  to  exam¬ 
ine  the  place  ;  and  for  the  common  reports  of  country  people,  at  a  dis¬ 
tance,  they  are  not  very  satisfactory  In  the  mean  time,  I  have  no  opin¬ 
ion  of  Le  Clere’s  dissertation  or  hypothesis  about  this  question,  which 
can  only  be  determined  by  eye-witnesses.  When  Christian  princes,  so 
called,  lay  aside  their  foolish  and  unchristian  wars  and  quarrels,  and 
send  a  body  of  fit  persons  to  travel  over  the  East,  and  briog  us  faithful 
accounts  of  all  ancient  monuments,  and  procure  us  copies  of  all  ancient 
records,  at  present  lost  among  us,  we  may  hope  for  full  satisfaction  itl 
such  inquiries  ;  but  hardly  before. 

|  I  see  no  proper  wicked  intention  in  these  daughters  of  Lot,  when, 
in  a  case  which  appeared  to  them  of  unavoidable  necessity,  they  pro¬ 
cured  themselves  to  be  with  child  to  their  father.  Without  such  an  un¬ 
avoidable  necessity,  incest  is  an  horrid  crime;  but  whether  in  such  a 
case  of  necessity  as  they  apprehended  this  to  be,  according  to  Josephus, 
it  was  any  such  crime,  I  am  not  satisfied.  In  the  mean  time,  their  mak¬ 
ing  their  father  drunk,  and  their  solicitous  concealment  of  what  they  did 
from  him,  shows  that  they  despaired  of  persuading  him  to  an  action 
which,  at  best,  could  not  but  be  very  suspicious  and  shocking  to  sd 
good  a  man. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


IQ? 


Chap.  XII. 

the  father  of  the  Ammonites ;  and  both  of  them  are  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  Coelosyria.  And  such  was  the  departure  of  Lot 
from  among  the  Sodomites. 


CHAP.  XII. 

Concerning  Abimeleeh  ;  and  concerning  Ishmael  the  son  of 

Abraham  ;  and  concerning  the  Arabians  which  were  his 

posterity. 

§  1.  Abraham  now  removed  to  Gerar  of  Palestine,  lead¬ 
ing  Sarah  along  with  him,  under  the  notion  of  his  sister,  using 
the  like  dissimulation  that  he  had  used  before,  and  this  out  of 
fear  :  for  he  was  afraid  of  Abimeleeh,  the  king  of  that  coun¬ 
try,  who  did  also  himself  fall  in  love  with  Sarah,  and  was  dis¬ 
posed  to  corrupt  her ;  but  he  was  restrained  from  satisfying 
his  lust  by  a  dangerous  distemper,  which  befel  him  from  God. 
Now,  when  his  physicians  despaired  of  curing  him,  he  fell 
asleep,  and  saw  a  dream,  warning  him  not  to  abuse  the  stran¬ 
ger’s  wife  ;  and  when  he  recovered,  he  told  his  friends,  that 
God  had  inflicted  that  disease  upon  him,  by  way  of  punish¬ 
ment  for  his  injury  to  the  stranger  ;  and  in  order  to  preserve 
the  chastity  of  his  wife,  for  that  she  did  not  accompany  him 
as  his  sister,  but  as  his  legitimate  wife  ;  and  that  God  had 
promised  to  be  gracious  to  him  for  the  time  to  come,  if  this 
person  be  once  secure  of  his  wife’s  chastity.  When  he  had 
said  this,  by  the  advice  of  his  friends  he  sent  for  Abraham, 
and  bid  him  be  not  concerned  about  his  wife,  dr  fear  the  cor- 
'  ruption  of  her  chastity  ;  for  that  God  took  care  of  him,  and 
that  it  was  by  his  providence  that  he  received  his  wife  again, 
without  her  suffering  any  abuse.  And  he  appealed  to  God, 
ami  to  his  wife’s  conscience;  and  said,  that  he  had  hot  had  any 
inclination  at  first  to  enjoy  her,  if  he  had  known  she  was  his 
wife  :  but  since,  said  he,  thou  ledest  her  about  as  thy  sistr, 
I  was  guilty  of  no  offence.  He  also  entreated  him  to  be  at 
peace  with  him  ;  and  to  make  God  propitious  to  him  :  and 
that  if  he  thought  fit  to  continue  with  him,  he  should  have 
what  he  wanted  in  abundance  ;  but  that  if  he  designed  to  go 
away,  he  should  be  honourably  conducted,  and  have  whatso¬ 
ever  supply  he  wanted  when  he  came  thither.  Upon  his  say¬ 
ing  this,  Abraham  told  him  that  his  pretence  of  kindred  to 
his  wife  was  no  lie,  because  she  was  his  brother’s  daughter  ; 
and  that  he  did  not  think  himself  safe  in  his  travels  abroad 
with  this  sort  of  dissimulation  ;  and  that  he  was  not  the  cause 
of  his  distemper,  but  was  only  solicitous  for  his  own  safety  : 
he  said  also  that  he  was  ready  to  stay  with  him.  Whereupon 
Abimeleeh  assigned  him  land,  and  money  ;  and  they  cove- 


208 


Booh  I. 


ANTIQUITIES 

Ranted  to  live  together  without  guile,  and  took  an  oath  at  a 
certain  well  called  Beersheba ,  which  may  be  interpreted,  The 
well  of  the  oath  ;  and  so  it  is  named  by  the  people  of  the 
country  unto  this  day. 

2.  Now  in  a  little  time  Abraham  had  a  son  by  Sarah,  as 
God  had  foretold  to  him,  whom  he  named  Isaac,  which  signi¬ 
fies  laughter.  And  indeed  they  so  called  him,  because  Sa¬ 
rah  laughed  when* * * §  God  said  that  she  should  bear  a  son,  she 
not  expecting  such  a  thing,  as  being  past  the  age  of  child¬ 
bearing,  for  she  was  ninety  years  old,  and  Abraham  an  hun¬ 
dred  ;  so  that  this  son  was  born  to  them,  both  in  the  last  year 
of  each  of  those  decimal  numbers.  And  they  circumcised 
him  upon  the  eighth  day  :  and  from  that  time  the  Jews  con¬ 
tinued  the  custom  of  circumcising  their  sons  within  that  num¬ 
ber  of  days.  But  as  for  the  Arabians,  they  circumcise  after 
the  thirteenth  year,  because  lshmael,  the  founder  of  their  na¬ 
tion,  who  was  born  to  Abraham  of  the  concubine,  was  circum¬ 
cised  at  that  age  ;  concerning  whom  I  will  presently  give  a 
particular  account  with  great  exactness. 

3.  As  for  Sarah,  she  at  first  loved  lshmael,  who  was  bom 
of  her  own  hand-maid  Hagar,  with  an  affection  not  inferior  to 
that  of  her  own  son,  for  he  was  brought  up  in  order  to  suc¬ 
ceed  in  the  government :  but  when  she  herself  had  borne 
Isaac,  she  was  not  willing  that  lshmael  should  be  brought  up 
with  him,  as  being  too  old  for  him,  and  able  to  do  him  inju¬ 
ries  when  their  father  should  be  dead  ;  she  therefore  per¬ 
suaded  Abraham  to  send  him  and  his  mother  to  some  distant 
country.  Now  at  the  first  he  did  not  agree  to  what  Sarah 
was  so  zealous  for,  and  thought  it  an  instance  of  the  greatest 
barbarity  to  send  away  at  young  child,  and  a  woman,  unpro- 


*  It  is  well  worth  observation,  that  Josephus  here  calls  that  principal 
ac-ol,  who  appeared  to  Abraham,  and  foretold  the  birth  oflsaac,  di 
rectly  God,  which  language  of  Josephus's  here,  prepares  us  to  believe 
those  other  expressions  of  his,  (hat  Jesus  was  a  wist  man,  if  it  be  lawful 
to  call  him  a  man,  Antiq.  B.  xviii.  ch.  iii.  §  3.  vol.  iv,  and  of  God,  the 

If  ord,  in  his  homily  concerning  Hades,  may  be  both  genuine.  Nor  is 
the  other  expression  of  divine  angel,  used  presently,  and  before,  also 
of  any  other  signification 

t  Josephus  here  calls  lshmael  a  young  child,  or  infant ,  though  he  was 
above  13  years  of  age;  as  Judas  calls  himself  and  his  brethren  you w* 
men,  when  they  were  4 7,  and  he  had  two  children,  Antiq.  B.  ii.  ch.  vi. 

§  8,  and  they  were  much  of  the  same  age  as  is  a  damsel  of  12  years  old 
called  a  little  child,  Mark  v.  39 — 42,  five  several  times.  Herod  also  is 
.said  by  Josephus  to  he  a  very  young  man  at  25.  See  the  note  on  Antiq. 
B.  xiv.  ch.  ix.  §  2.  vol.  iii.  and  of  the  War,  B.  i.  ch  x.  vol.  v.  4nd  Ari3- 
tobulus  is  styled  a  very  little  ckdd  at  16  years  of  age,  Antiq  B.  xv.  ch.  ii. 
§  6,  7,  vol.  iii.  Domitian  is  also  called  by  him  a  very  young  child  when 
he  wont  on  his  fferonan  expedition  at  about  18  years  of  age,  of  the  War, 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


109 


Chap.  XIII. 

vided  of  necessaries ;  but  at  length  he  agreed  to  it,  because 
God  was  pleased  with  what  Sarah  had  determined :  so  he  de¬ 
livered  Ishmael  to  his  mother,  as  not  yet  able  to  go  by  him¬ 
self  ;  and  commanded  her  to  take  a  bottle  of  water  and  a  loaf 
of  bread,  and  so  to  depart,  and  take  necessity  for  her  guide. 
But  as  soon  as  her  necessary  provisions  failed,  she  found  her¬ 
self  in  an  evil  case;  and  when  the  water  was  almost  spent; 
she  laid  the  young  child,  who  was  ready  to  expire,  under  a 
fir-tree,  and  went  on  farther,  that  so  he  might  die  while  she 
was  absent.  But  a  divine  angel  came  to  her,  and  told  her  ol 
a  fountain  hard  by,  and  bid  her  take  care  and  bring  up  the 
child,  because  she  should  be  very  happy  by  the  preservation 
of  Ishmael.  She  then  took  courage,  upon  the  prospect  of 
what  was  promised  her,  and  meeting  with  some  shepherdsj 
by  their  care  she  got  clear  of  the  distresses  she  had  been  in. 

4  When  the  lad  was  grown  up,  he  married  a  wife,  by  birth, 
an  Egyptian,  from  whence  the  mother  was  herself  derived 
originally.  Of  this  wife  were  born  to  Ishmael  twelve  sons, 
Nabaioth,  Kedar,  Abdeel,  Mabsam,  Idumas,  Masmaos,  Mas- 
saos,  Chodadj  Thernan,  Jetur,  Naphesus,  Kadmas.  These 
inhabited  all  the  country  from  Euphrates  to  the  Red  Sea,  and 
called  it  Nahatene.  They  are  an  Arabian  nation,  and  name 
their  tribes  from  these,  both  because  of  their  own  virtue,  and 
because  of  the  dignity  of  Abraham  their  father. 

CHAP.  XIII. 

Concerning  Isaac ,  the  legitimate  son  of  Abraham. 

v)  1.  Now  Abraham  greatly  loved  Isaac,  as  being  his  'only 
begotten ,  and  given  to  him  at  the  borders  of  old  age,  by  the 
favour  of  God.  The  child  also  endeared  himself  to  his  pa¬ 
rents  still  more,  by  the  exercise  of  every  virtue,  and  adher¬ 
ing  to  his  duty  to  his  parents,  and  being  zealous  in  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  God.  Abraham  also  placed  his  own  happiness  in  this 
prospect,  that  when  he  should  die,  he  should  leave  this  his 
son  in  a  safe  and  secure  condition;  which  accordingly  he  ob¬ 
tained  by  the  will  of  God  ;  who  being  desirous  to  make  an  ex¬ 
periment  of  Abraham’s  religious  disposition  towards  himself, 
appeared  to  him,  and  u  Enumerated  all  the  blessings  he  had 

B.  vii.  cli.  iv.  §  2.  vol.  vi.  Samson’s  wife,  and  Ruth,  when  they  were 
widows,  are  called  children.  Antiq.  B.  v.  ch.  viii.  §  6,  and  ch.  ix.  §  2,  3. 

*  Note,  that  both  here,  and  Heb.  xi.  17,  Isaac  is  called  Abraham’s 
only  begotten  son,  though  he  at  the  same  time  had  another  son  Ishmael 
f  he  Septuagint  expresses  the  true  meaning,  by  rendering  the  text,  (he 
beloved  son. 

VOU.  I. 


K 


110  ANTIQUITIES  Booh L 

bestowed  on  him ;  how  he  had  made  him  superior  to  his  ene¬ 
mies;  and  that  his  son  Isaac,  who  was  the  principal  part  of 
his  present  happiness,  was  derived  from  him  ;  and  he  said, 
that  he  required  this  son  of  his,  as  a  sacrifice  and  holy  obla¬ 
tion.”  Accordingly  he  commanded  him  to  carry  him  to  the 
mountain  Moriah,  and  to  build  an  altar,  and  offer  him  for  a 
burnt-offering  upon  it ;  for  that  this  would  best  manifest  his 
religious  disposition  towards  him,  if  he  preferred  what  was 
pleasing  to  God,  before  the  preservation  of  his  own  son. 

2.  Now  Abraham  thought  that  it  was  not  right  to  disobey 
God  in  any  thing,  but  that  he  was  obliged  to  serve  him  in 
every  circumstance  of  life,  since  all  creatures  that  live  enjoy 
their  life  by  his  providence,  and  the  kindness  he  bestows  on 
them.  Accordingly  he  concealed  this  command  of  God,  and 
his  own  intentions  about  the  slaughter  of  his  son,  from  his 
wife,  as  also  from  every  one  of  his  servants,  otherwise  he 
should  have  been  hindered  from  his  obedience  to  God  ;  and 
he  took  Isaac,  together  with  two  of  his  servants,  and  laying 
what  things  were  necessary  for  a  sacrifice  on  an  ass,  he  went 
away  to  the  mountain.  Now  the  two  servants  went  along  with 
him  two  days ;  but  on  the  third  day,  as  soon  as  he  saw  the 
mountain,  he  left  those  servants,  that  were  with  him  till  then, 
in  the  plain,  and  having  his  son  alone  with  him,  he  came  to 
the  mountain.  It  was  that  mountain  upon  which  king  David 
afterwards  built  the  *  temple.  Now  they  had  brought  with 
them  every  thing  necessary  for  a  sacrifice,  excepting  the  ani¬ 
mal  that  was  to  be  offered  only.  Now  Isaac  was  twenty-five 
years  old.  And  as  he  was  building  the  altar,  he  asked  his 
father,  “What  he  was  about  to  offer,  since  there  was  no  ani¬ 
mal  there  for  an  oblation?”  To  which  it  was  answered, 
“  That  God  would  provide  himself  an  oblation,  he  being  able 
to  make  a  plentiful  provision  for  men  out  of  what  they  al¬ 
ready  have  not,  and  to  deprive  others  of  what  they  already 
have,  when  they  put  too  much  trust  therein ;  that  therefore 
if  God  pleased  to  be  present  and  propitious  at  this  sacrifice, 
he  would  provide  himself  an  oblation.” 

3.  As  soon  as  the  altar  was  prepared  and  Abraham  had 
laid  on  the  wood,  and  all  things  were  entirely  ready,  he  said 
to  his  son,  “  O  son,  I  poured  out  a  vast  number  of  prayers 
that  I  might  have  thee  for  my  son  ;  when  thou  wast  come  in 

*  Here  is  a  plain  error  in  the  copies,  which  say,  that  king  David  af¬ 
terwards  built  the  temple  on  this  mount  Moriah,  while  it  was  certainly 
•no  other  than  king  Solomon  who  built  that  temple,  as  indeed  Procopi¬ 
us  citesfrom  Josephus ;  for  it  was  for  certain  David,  and  not  Solomon, 
who  built  the  first  altar  there,  as  we  learn,  2  Sam,  xxiv.  18.,  1  Ghroi}. 
xxt.  22,  and  Antiij.  B.  vii„  ch.  xiif  §  4.vo1.  ii. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


ill 


Chap.  XIII. 

to  the  world,  there  was  nothing  that  could  contribute  to  thy 
support,  for  which  I  was  not  greatly  solicitous,  nor  any  thing 
wherein  I  thought  myself  happier  than  to  see  thee  grown  up 
to  man’s  estate,  and  that  I  might  leave  thee,  at  my  death,  the 
successor  to  my  dominion  :  but  since  it  was  by  God’s  will 
that  I  became  thy  father,  and  it  is  now  his  will  that  I  relinquish 
thee,  bear  this  consecration  to  God  with  a  generous  mind  $ 
for  I  resign  thee  up  to  God,  who  has  thought  fit  now  to  re¬ 
quire  this  testimony  of  honour  to  himself,  on  account  of  the 
favours  he  hath  conferred  on  me  in  being  to  me  a  supporter 
and  defender.  Accordingly  thou,  my  son,  wilt  now  die,  not 
in  any  common  way  of  going  out  of  the  world,  but  sent  to 
God,  the  father  of  all  men,  beforehand,  by  thy  own  father, 
in  the  nature  of  a  sacrifice.  I  suppose  he  thinks  thee  worthy 
to  get  clear  of  this  world,  neither  by  a  disease,  neither  by 
war,  nor  by  any  other  severe  ways,  by  which  death  usually 
comes  upon  men,  but  so  that  he  will  receive  thy  soul  with 
prayers  and  holy  offices  of  religion,  and  will  place  thee  near 
to  himself,  and  thou  wilt  there  be  to  me  a  succourer  and  sup¬ 
porter  in  my  old  age  ;  on  which  account  1  principally  brought 
thee  up,  and  thou  wilt  thereby  procure  me  God  for  my  com¬ 
forter  instead  of  thyself.” 

4.  Now  Isaac  was  of  such  a  generous  disposition  as  became 
the  son  of  such  a  father,  and  was  pleased  with  this  discourse  5 
and  said,  “  That  he  was  not  worthy  to  be  born  at  first,  if  he 
should  reject  the  determination  of  God,  and  of  his  father,  and 
should  not  resign  himself  up  readily  to  both  their  pleasures, 
since  it  would  have  been  unjust,  if  he  had  not  obeyed,  even 
if  his  father  had  alone  so  resolved.”  So  he  went  immedi¬ 
ately  to  the  altar  to  be  secrificed.  And  the  deed  had  been 
done  if  God  had  not  opposed  it :  for  he  called  loudly  to  Abra¬ 
ham  by  his  name,  and  forbade  him  to  slay  his  son  ;  and  said, 
ii  It  was  not  out  of  a  desire  of  human  blood  that  he  was  com¬ 
manded  to  slay  his  son,  nor  was  he  willing  that  he  should  be 
taken  away  from  him  whom  he  had  made  his  father,  but  to 
try  the  temper  of  his  mind,  whether  he  would  be  obedient  to 
such  a  command.  Since  therefore  he  now  was  satisfied  as 
to  that  his  alacrity,  and  surprising  readiness  he  showed  in 
this  his  piety  ;  he  was  delighted  in  having  bestowed  such  bles¬ 
sings  upon  him  ;  and  that  his  son  should  live  to  a  very  great 
age ;  that  he  should  live  an  happy  life,  and  bequeath  a  large 
principality  to  his  children  who  should  be  good  and  legiti¬ 
mate.”  He  foretold  also  that  his  family  should  increase  into 
many  nations  ;  and  that  those*  patriarchs  should  leave  be- 

*  it  seems  both  here,  and  in  God’s  parallel  blessing  to  Jacob,  ch.  xis. 
j  1,  that  Josephus  had  not  yet  any  notion  of  the  hidden  meaning  of  that 


112 


Book  I. 


ANTIQUITIES 

hind  them  an  everlasting  name  ;  that  they  should  obtain  the 
possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  be  envied  by  all  men. 
When  God  had  said  this,  he  produced  to  them  a  ram,  which 
did  not  appear  before,  for  the  sacrifice.  So  Abraham  and 
Isaac  receiving  each  othef  unexpectedly,  and  having  obtain¬ 
ed  the  promises  of  such  great  blessings,  embraced  one  anoth¬ 
er;  and  when  they  had  sacrificed,  they  returned  to  Sarah, 
and  lived  happily  together,  God  affording  him  his  assistance 
in  all  things  they  desired. 


CHAP  XIV. 

Concerning  Sarah ,  Abraham’s  wife ;  and  how  she  ended 

her  days. 

§  1.  Now  Sarah  died  a  little  while  after,  having  lived  one 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  years.  They  buried  her  in  He¬ 
bron  ;  the  Canaanites  publicly  allowing  them  a  burying- 
place  :  which  piece  of  ground  Abraham  bought  for  four  hun¬ 
dred  shekels,  of  Ephron,  an  inhabitant  of  Hebron.  And 
both  Abraham  and  his  descendants  built  themselves  sepul-. 
chres  in  that  place. 


CHAP.  XV. 

How  the  nation  of  the  Troglodytes  were  derived  from  Abra~ 

ham  by  Keturah. 

§  l.  Abraham  after  this  married  Keturah,  by  whom  six 
sons  were  born  to  him,  men  of  courage  and  of  sagacious 

most  important  and  most  eminent  promise,  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  f ami' 
lies  of  the  earth  be  blessed.  He  saith  not  of  seeds,  as  of  man y,  but  as  of  one  . 
and  to  thy  seed,  which  is  Christ,  Gal  iii.  16.  Nor  is  it  any  wonder,  he  be¬ 
ing,  I  think,  as  yet  not  a  Christian.  And  had  he  been  a  Christian,  yet 
since  he  was  to  be  sure,  till  the  latler  part  of  bis  life,  no  more  than  an 
Ebionite  Christian,  who,  above  all  the  apostles,  rejected  and  despised 
St.  Paul,  it  would  be  no  great  wonder  if  he  did  not  now  follow  bis  in¬ 
terpretation.  In  the  mean  time,  we  have  in  effect  St.  Paul’s  exposi¬ 
tion  in  the  testament  of  Reuben,  §6,  in  Authent.  Rec.  parti  p.  302, 
who  charges  his  sons,  “  To  worship  the  seed  of  Judah,  who  should  die 
for  them  in  visible  and  invisible  wars  ;  and  should  be  among  them  an 
eternal  king.”  Nor  is  that  observation  of  a  learned  foreigner  of  my 
acquaintance  to  be  despised,  who  takes  notice,  that  as  seeds,  in  the  plu¬ 
ral,  must  signify  posterity,  or  seed,  in  the  singular,  may  signify  either 
posterity  or  a  single  person  •,  and  that  in  this  promise  of  all  nations  be¬ 
ing  happy  in  the  seed  of  Abraham,  or  Isaac,  or  Jacob,  Sic.  it  is  always 
used  in  the  singular.  To  which  l  shall  add,  that  it  is  sometimes,  as  it 
were,  paraphrased  by  the  son  of  Abraham,  the  son  of  David,  Sic.  which 
t3  capable  of  no  such  ambiguity. 


GF  THE  JEWS. 


113 


Chap.  X  VI. 

minds  :  Zambran,  and  Jazar,  and  Madan,  and  Madian,  Josa« 
bak,  and  Sous.  Now  the  sons  of  Sous  were,  Sabathan,  and 
Dadan.  The  sons  of  Dadan  were  Latusim,  and  Assur,  and 
Luom.  The  sons  of  Madian  were,  Ephas,  and  (Jphren,  and 
Anoch,  and  Ekidas,  and  Eldas.  Now  for  all  these  sons  and 
grandsons,  Abraham  contrived  to  settle  them  in  colonies  ; 
and  they  took  possession  of  Troglodytis,  and  the  country  of 
Arabia  the  llappy ,  as  far  as  it  reaches  to  the  Red  Sea.  It  is 
related  of  this  Ophren,  that  he  made  war  against  Lybia,  and 
took  it ;  and  that  his  grand-children,  when  they  inhabited  it, 
called  it  from  his  name  Africa.  And  indeed  Alexander  Po- 
lyhistor  gives  his  attestation  to  what  I  here  say  ;  who  speaks 
thus  :  “  Cleodemus  the  prophet,  who  was  also  called  Mal- 
chus,  who  wrote  an  history  of  the  Jews,  in  agreement  with 
the  history  of  Moses,  their  legislator,  relates,  that  there  were 
many  sons  born  to  Abraham  by  Keturah  :  Nay,  he  names 
three  of  them,  Apher,  and  Jurim,  and  Japhran.  That  from 
Surim  was  the  land  of  Assyria  denominated ;  and  that  from 
the  other  two,  Apher  and  Japhran,  the  country  of  Africa 
took  its  name,  because  these  men  were  auxiliaries  to  Hercu¬ 
les,  when  he  fought  against  Lybia  and  Antaeus  ;  and  that 
Hercules  married  Aphra’s  daughter,  and  of  her  begat  a  son 
Didorus  ;  and  that  Sophon  was  his  son,  from  whom  the  bar¬ 
barous  people  called  Sophasians  were  denominated.” 


CHAP.  XVI. 


How  Isaac  took  Rebelca  to  wife. 

^  1.  Now  when  Abraham,  the  father  of  Isaac,  had  resolv¬ 
ed  to  take  Rebeka,  who  was  grand-daughter  to  his  brother 
\ahor,  for  a  wife  to  his  son  Isaac,  who  was  then  about  forty 
years  old,  he  sent  the  ancientest  of  his  servants  to  betroth 
her,  after  he  had  obliged  him  to  give  him  the  strongest  assu¬ 
rances  of  his  fidelity.  Which  assurances  were  given  after 
the  manner  following  :  they  put  each  others  hands  under 
each  others  thighs  :  then  they  called  upon  God  as  the  wit¬ 
ness  of  what  was  to  be  done.  He  also  sent  such  presents  to 
i  hose  that  were  there,  as  were  in  esteem,  on  account  that  they 
either  rarely  or  never  were  seen  in  that  country.  This  ser¬ 
vant  got  thither  not  under  a  considerable  time  ;  for  it  requires 
much  time  to  pass  through  Mesopotamia,  in  which  it  is  tedi¬ 
ous  travelling,  both  in  winter,  for  the  depth  of  the  clay,  and 
in  summer,  for  want  of  water  ;  and  besides  this,  for  the  rob¬ 
beries  there  committed,  which  are  not  to  be  avoided  by 
travellers,  but  by  caution,  beforehand.  However,  the  ser- 

K  2 


Booh  I. 


114  ANTIQUITIES 

vant  came  to  Karan.  And  when  he  was  in  the  suburbs,  he 
met  a  great  number  of  maidens  going  to  the  water  :  he  there¬ 
fore  prayed  to  God,  that  Rebeka  might  be  found  among  them, 
or  her  whom  Abraham  sent  him  as  his  servant  to  espouse  to 
his  son,  in  case  his  will  were  that  this  marriage  should  be  con¬ 
summated  ;  and  that  she  might  be  made  known  to  him  by 
this  sign,  that  while  others  denied  him  water  to  drink,  she 
might  give  it  him. 

2.  With  this  intention  he  went  to  the  well,  and  desired  the 
maidens  to  give  him  some  water  to  drink  :  but  while  the 
others  refused  on  pretence  that  they  wanted  it  all  at  home, 
and  could  spare  none  for  him,  one  only  of  the  company  re- 
Tbuked  them  for  their  peevish  behaviour  towards  the  stran¬ 
ger  ;  and  said,  what  is  there  that  you  will  ever  communicate 
to  any  body,  who  have  not  so  mucR  as  given  the  man  some 
water  ?  She  then  offered  him  water  in  an  obliging  manner. 
And  now  he  began  to  hope  that  this  grand  affair  would  suc¬ 
ceed  ;  but  desiring  still  to  know  the  truth,  he  commended 
her  for  her  generosity  and  good  nature,  that  she  did  not  scru¬ 
ple  to  afford  a  sufficiency  of  water  to  those  that  wanted  it, 
though  it  cost  her  some  pains  to  draw  it ;  and  asked  who 
were  her  parents,  and  wished  them  joy  of  such  a  daughter  ; 
and  maj^est  thou  be  espoused,  said  he,  to  their  satisfaction, 
into  the  family  of  an  agreeable  husband,  and  bring  him  legit¬ 
imate  children.  Nor  did  she  disdain  to  satisfy  his  inquiries, 
but  told  him  her  family.  They,  says  she,  call  me  Rebeka  ; 
my  father  was  Bethuel,  but  he  is  dead  ;  and  Laban  is  my 
brother,  and,  together  with  my  mother,  takes  care  of  all  our 
family  affairs,  and  is  the  guardian  of  my  virginity.  When  the 
servant  heard  this,  he  was  very  glad  at  what  had  happened, 
and  at  what  was  told  him,  as  perceiving  that  God  had  thus 
plainly  directed  his  journey  ;  and  producing  his  bracelets, 
and  some  other  ornaments  which  it  was  esteemed  decent  for 
virgins  to  wear,  he  gave  them  to  the  damsel,  by  way  of  ack¬ 
nowledgement,  and  as  a  reward  for  her  kindness  in  giving 
him  water  to  drink  ;  saying,  it  was  but  just  that  she  should 
have  them,  because  she  was  so  much  more  obliging  than  an\ 
of  the  rest.  She  desired  also  that  he  would  come  and  lodge 
with  them,  since  the  approach  of  the  night  gave  him  not  time 
to  proceed  farther.  And  producing  his  precious  ornaments 
for  women,  he  said,  he  desired  to  trust  them  to  none  more 
safely,  than  to  such  as  she  had  showed  herself  to  be  ;  and 
that  he  believed  he  might  guess  at  the  humanity  of  her  mother 
and  brother,  that  they  would  not  be  displeased,  from  the  vir¬ 
tue  he  found  in  her,  for  he  would  not  be  burthensome,  but 
would  pay  the  hire  for  his  entertainment,  and  spend  his  own 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


115 


Chap.  XVII. 

money.  To  which  she  replied,  that  he  guessed  right  as  to 
the  humanity  of  her  parents  ;  but  complained,  that  he  should 
have  all  on  free  cost  :  but  she  said,  she  would  first  inform  her 
brother  Laban,  and,  if  he  gave  her  leave,  she  would  conduct 
him  in. 

3.  As  soon  then  as  this  was  over,  she  introduced  the  stran¬ 
ger  ;  and  for  the  camels,  the  servants  of  Laban  brought  them 
in,  and  took  care  of  them,  and  he  was  himself  brought  in  to 
supper  by  Laban.  And,  after  supper,  he  says  to  him,  and 
to  the  mother  of  the  damsel,  addressing  himself  to  her, 
11  Abraham  is  the  son  of  Terah,  and  a  kinsman  of  yours,  for 
Nahor,  the  grandfather  of  these  children,  was  the  brother  of 
Abraham,  by  both  father  and  mother  ;  upon  which  account 
he  hath  sent  me  to  you,  being  desirous  to  take  this  damsel 
for  his  son  to  wife.  He  is  his  legitimate  son  ;  and  is  brought 
up  as  his  only  heir.  He  could  indeed  have  had  the  most 
happy  of  all  the  women  in  that  country  for  him,  but  he  would 
not  have  his  son  marry  any  of  them  ;  but  out  of  regard  to 
his  own  relations,  he  desired  to  match  him  here,  whose  affec¬ 
tion  and  inclination  I  would  not  have  you  despise  ;  for  it 
was  by  the  good  pleasure  of  God  that  other  accidents  fell  out 
in  my  journey,  and  that  thereby  I  light  upon  your  daughter, 
and  your  house  ;  for  when  I  was  near  to  the  city,  I  saw  a 
great  many  maidens  coming  to  a  well,  and  I  prayed  that  I 
might  meet  with  this  damsel,  which  has  come  to  pass  accord¬ 
ingly.  Do  you  therefore  confirm  that  marriage,  whose  es¬ 
pousals  have  been  already  made  by  a  divine  appearance  ; 
and  show  the  respect  you  have  for  Abraham,  who  has  sent 
me  with  so  much  solicitude,  in  giving  your  consent  to  the 
marriage  of  this  damsel.”  Upon  this  they  understood  it  to 
be  the  will  of  God,  and  greatly  approved  of  the  offer,  and 
sent  their  daughter,  as  was  desired.  Accordingly  Isaac  mar¬ 
ried  her,  the  inheritance  being  now  come  to  him  ;  for  the 
children  of  Keturah  were  gone  to  their  owrn  remote  habita¬ 
tions. 


CHAP.  XVII. 

Concerning  the  death  of  Abraham. 

§  1.  A  little  while  after  this,  Abraham  died,  lie  was  a 
man  of  incomparable  virtue,  and  honoured  by  God  in  a  man¬ 
ner  agreeable  to  his  piety  towards  him.  The  whole  time  of 
his  life  was  one  hundred  seventy  and  five  years  ;  and  he  was 
buried  in  Hebron,  with  his  wife  Sarah  by  their  sons  Isaac  and 
Ishmael. 


.11(3 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  I. 


CHAP.  XVIII. 

Concerning  the  sons  of  Isaac,  Esau  and  Jacob.  Of  their 
nativity  and  education. 

§  1.  Now  Isaac’s  wife  proved  with  child,*  after  the  death 
of  Abraham  ;  and  when  her  belly  was  greatly  burdened, 
Isaac  was  very  anxious,  and  inquired  of  God  ;  who  answer¬ 
ed,  that  Rebeka  should  bear  twins  ;  and  that  two  nations 
should  take  the  names  of  these  sons  ;  and  that  he  who  ap¬ 
peared  the  second,  should  excel  the  elder.  Accordingly  she, 
in  a  little  time,  as  God  had  foretold,  bare  twins  ;  the  elder  of 
whom,  from  his  head  to  his  feet,  was  very  rough  and  hairy ; 
but  the  younger  took  hold  of  his  heel  as  they  were  in  the 
birth.  Now  the  father  loved  the  elder,  who  was  called  Esau , 
a  name  agreeable  to  his  roughness,  for  the  Hebrews  call  such, 
an  hairy  roughness, t  [Esau  or]  Seir;  but  Jacob  the  young¬ 
er  was  best  beloved  by  his  mother. 

2.  When  there  was  a  famine  in  the  land,  Isaac  resolved  to 
go  into  Egypt,  the  land  there  being  good ;  but  he  went  to 
Gerar,  as  God  commanded  him.  Here  Abimelech  the  king 
received  him,  because  Abraham  had  formerly  lived  with  him, 
and  had  been  his  friend  :  and  as  in  the  beginning  he  treated 
him  exceedingly  kindly,  so  he  was  hindered  from  continuing 
in  the  same  disposition  to  the  end,  by  his  envy  at  him  ;  for 
when  he  saw  that  God  was  with  Isaac,  and  took  such  great 
care  of  him,  he  drove  him  away  from  him.  But  Isaac,  when 
he  saw  how  envy  had  changed  the  temper  of  Abimelech,  re¬ 
tired  to  a  place  called  The  Valley,  not  far  from  Gerar  ;  and  as 
he  was  digging  a  well,  the  shepherds  fell  upon  him,  and  be¬ 
gan  to  fight,  in  order  to  hinder  the  work,  and  because  he  did 
not  desire  to  contend,  the  shepherds  seemed  to  get  the  bet¬ 
ter  of  him,  so  he  still  retired,  and  dug  another  well ;  and 
when  certain  other  shepherds  of  Abimeleclrs  began  to  offer 
him  violence,  he  left  that  also,  and  still  retired,  thus  purcha¬ 
sing  security  to  himself  by  a  rational  and  prudent  conduct. 
At  length  the  king  gave  him  leave  to  dig  a  well  without  dis¬ 
turbance  :  he  named  this  well  Rehoboth,  which  denotes  a 
large  space  ;  but  of  the  former  wells,  one  was  called  Escon. 


*  The  birth  of  Jacob  and  Esau  is  here  said  to  be  after  Abraham's 
death;  it  should  have  been  after  Sarah’s  d-eath.  The  order  of  the  nar. 
ration  in  Genesis,  not  always  exactly  according  to  the  order  of  time, 
seems  to  have  led  Josephus  into  it,  as  Dr.  Bernard  observes  here. 

t  For  Seir  in  Josephus,  the  coherence  requires  that  we  read  or 
Stir,  which  signifies  the  fiaiue  thing. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  XVIIL 


which  denotes  strife ,  the  other  Sitenna,  which  name  signifies 
enmity. 

3.  It  was  now  that  Isaac’s  affairs  increased,  and  his  power 
was  in  a  flourishing  condition  ;  and  this  from  his  great  riches. 
But  Abimelech  thinking  Isaac  throve  in  opposition  to  him, 
while  their  living  together  made  them  suspicious  of  each  oth- 
er,  and  Isaac’s  retiring  showing  a  secret  enmity  also,  he  was 
afraid  that  his  former  friendship  with  Isaac  did  not  secure 
him,  if  Isaac  should  endeavour  to  revenge  the  injuries  he  had 
formerly  offered  him ;  he  therefore  renewed  his  friendship 
with  him,  and  brought  with  him  Philoc,  one  of  his  generals  : 
and  when  he  had  obtained  every  thing  he  desired,  by  reason 
of  Isaac’s  good  nature,  who  preferred  the  earlier  friendship 
Abimelech  had  showed  to  himself  and  his  father,  to  his  later 
wrath  against  him,  he  returned  home. 

4.  Now  when  Esau,  one  of  the  sons  of  Isaac,  whom  the 
father  principally  loved,  was  now  come  to  the  age  of  forty 
years,  he  married  Adah,  the  daughter  of  Helon,  and  Aholi- 
bamah,  the  daughter  of  Esebeon  ;  which  Helon  and  Esebeon 
were  great  lords  among  the  Canaaniles,  thereby  taking  upon 
himself  the  authority,  and  pretending  to  have  dominion  over 
his  own  marriages,  without  so  much  as  asking  the  advice  of 
his  father  ;  for  had  Isaac  been  the  arbitrator,  he  had  not  giv- 
en  him  leave  to  marry  thus,  for  he  was  not  pleased  with  con¬ 
tracting  any  alliance  with  the  people  of  that  country  ;  but  not 
caring  to  be  uneasy  to  his  son,  by  commanding  him  to  put 
away  these  wives,  he  resolved  to  be  silent. 

5.  But  when  he  was  old,  and  could  not  see  at  all,  he  call- 
ed  Esau  to  him,  and  told  him,  that  besides  all  blindness,  and 
the  disorder  of  his  eyes,  his  very  old  age  hindered  him  from 
his  worship  of  God  [by  sacrifice,]  he  bid  him  therefore  to  go 
out  a  hunting,  and  when  he  had  caught  as  much  venison  as  he 
could,  to  prepare  him*  a  supper,  that  after  this  he  might  make 
supplication  to  God  to  be  to  him  a  supporter  and  an  assister, 
during  the  whole  time  of  his  life  ;  saying,  that  it  was  uncer- 


*  The  -)up;i  i-  of  savoury  meat .  as  we  call  it,  Gen.  xxvii.  4,  to  be  caught 
by  hunting,  was  intended  plainly  for  a  festival  or  a  sacrifice,  and  upon 
the  prayers  that  were  frequent  at  sacrifices,  Isaac  expected,  as  was  then 
usual  in  such  eminent  cases,  that  a  divine  impulse  wouldcome  upon  him, 
in  order  to  the  solemn  blessing  of  his  son  there  present,  and  his  foretelling 
his  future  behaviour  and  fortune.  Whence  it  must  be,  that  when  Isaac 
had  unwittingly  blessed  Jacob,  and  was  afterward  made  sensible  of  his 
mistake,  yet  did  he  not  attempt  to  alter  it,  how  earnestly  soever  his  affec¬ 
tion  for  Esau  might  incline  him  to  wish  it  might  be  altered,  because  he 
knew  that  this  blessing  came  not  from  himself,  but  from  God,  and  that 
an  alteration  was  out  of  his  power.  A  second  afflatus  then  came  upon 
him,  and  enabled  him  toforetel  Esau’s  future  behaviour  and  fortune  also. 


118  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  X. 

tain  when  he  should  die,  and  that  he  was  desirous,  by  his 
prayers  for  him,  to  procure,  beforehand,  God  to  be  merciful  to 
him. 

6.  Accordingly  Esau  went  out  a  hunting.  But*  Rebeka 
thinking  it  proper  to  have  the  supplication  made  for  obtain¬ 
ing  the  favour  of  God  to  Jacob,  and  that  without  the  consent 
of  Isaac,  bid  him  kill  kids  of  the  goats,  and  prepare  a  supper  : 
so  Jacob  obeyed  his  mother,  according  to  all  her  instructions, 
Now  when  the  supper  was  got  ready,  he  took  a  goat’s  skin, 
and  put  it  about  his  arm,  that  by  reason  of  its  hairy  rough¬ 
ness,  he  might,  by  his  father,  be  believed  to  be  Esau  ;  for 
they  being  twins,  and  in  all  things  else  alike,  differed  only  in 
this  thing.  This  was  done  out  of  his  fear,  that  before  his  fa¬ 
ther  had  made  his  supplications,  he  should  be  caught  in  his 
evil  practice,  and  lest  he  should,  on  the  contrary,  provoke 
his  father  to  curse  him.  So  he  brought  in  the  supper  to  his 
father.  Isaac  perceiving  by  the  peculiarity  of  his  voice  who 
he  was,  called  his  son  to  him,  who  gave  him  his  hand,  which 
was  covered  with  the  goat’s  skin.  When  Isaac  felt  that,  he 
said,  u  Thy  voice  is  like  the  voice  of  Jacob,  yet  because  of 
the  thickness  of  thy  hair,  thou  seemest  to  be  Esau.”  So  sus¬ 
pecting  no  deceit,  he  eat  the  supper,  and  betook  himself  to 
his  prayers  ancl  intercessions  with  God  ;  and  said,  u  O  Lord 
of  all  ages,  and  Creator  of  all  substance  ;  for  it  was  thou 
that  didst  propose  to  my  father  great  plenty  of  good  things, 
and  hast  vouchsafed  to  bestow  on  me  what  I  have  ;  and  hast 
promised  to  my  posterity  to  be  their  kind  supporter,  and  to 


*  Whether  Jacob  or  his  mother  Rebeka  were  most  blameable  in  this 
imposition  upon  Isaac  in  his  old  age,  I  cannot  determine.  However,  the 
blessing  being  delivered  as  a  prediction  of  future  events,  by  a  divine  im¬ 
pulse,  and  foretelling  things  to  befal  the  posterity  of  Jacob  and  Esau  in 
future  ages,  was  for  certain  providential ;  and  according  to  what  Re¬ 
beka  knew  to  be  the  purpose  of  God,  when  he  answered  her  inquiry, 
before  the  children  uere  born,  Gen.  xxv.  23,  that  one  people  should  be 
stronger  than  the  other  people ;  and  the  elder ,  Esau,  should  serve  theyoung~ 
er,  Jacob.  Whether  Isaac  knew  or  remembered  this  old  oracle,  deliver¬ 
ed  in  our  copies  only  to  Rebeka;  whether  if  he  knew  and  remember¬ 
ed  it,  he  did  not  endeavour  to  alter  the  divine  determination,  out  of  his 
fondness  for  his  elder  and  worser  son  Esau, to  the  damage  of  his  younger 
and  better  son  Jacob ;  as  Josephus  elsewhere  supposes,  Antiq.  B.  ii.  cap. 
vii.  sec  3,  l  cannot  certainly  say.  If  so,  this  might  tempt  Rebeka  to 
contrive,  and  Jacob  to  put  this  imposition  upon  him.  However  Jose¬ 
phus  says  here,  that  it  was  Isaac,  and  not  Rebeka,  who  inquired  of  God 
at  first,  and  received  the  forementioned  oracle,  sec.  1,  which,  if  it  be  the 
true  reading,  renders  Isaac’s  procedure  more  inexcusable:  nor  was  it 
probably  any  thing  else  that  so  much  encouraged  Esau  formerly  to  mar¬ 
ry  two  Canaanitish  waves,  without  his  parents’  consent,  as  Isaac’s  un¬ 
happy  foundness  for  him. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


119 


Chap.  XIX. 

bestow  on  them  still  greater  blessings  ;  do  thou  therefore  con¬ 
firm  these  thy  promises,  and  do  not  overlook  me,  because  of 
my  present  weak  condition,  on  account  of  which  I  more  ear¬ 
nestly  pray  to  thee.  Be  gracious  to  this  my  son  ;  and  pre¬ 
serve  him,  and  keep  him  from  every  thing  that  is  evil.  Give 
him  an  happy  life,  and  the  possession  of  as  many  good  things 
as  thy  power  is  able  to  bestow.  Make  him  terrible  to  his  ene¬ 
mies,  and  honourable  and  beloved  among  his  friends.” 

7.  Thus  did  Isaac  pray  to  God,  thinking  his  prayers  had 
been  made  for  Esau.  He  had  but  just  finished  them,  when 
Esau  came  in  from  hunting.  And  when  Isaac  perceived  his 
mistake,  he  was  silent  :  but  Esau  required  that  he  might  be 
made  partaker  of  the  like  blessing  from  his  father  that  his 
brother  had  partook  of  y  but  his  father  refused  it  because  all 
his  prayers  had  been  spent  upon  Jacob  :  so  Esau  lamented 
the  mistake.  However,  his  father  being  grieved  at  his  weep¬ 
ing,  said,  that  u  he  should  excel  in  hunting,  and  strength  of 
body  ;  in  arms,  and  all  such  sorts  of  work  ;  and  should  ob¬ 
tain  glory  for  ever  on  those  accounts,  he  and  his  posterity  af¬ 
ter  him  ;  but  still  should  serve  his  brother.” 

8.  Now  the  mother  delivered  Jacob,  when  be  was  afraid 
that  his  brother  would  inflict  some  punishment  upon  him,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  mistake  about  the  prayers  of  Isaac  ;  for  she  per¬ 
suaded  her  husband  to  take  a  wife  for  Jacob  out  of  Mesopo¬ 
tamia,  of  her  own  kindred,  Esau  having  married  already  Ba- 
semmath,  the  daughter  of  Ishmael,  without  his  father’s  con¬ 
sent,  for  Isaac  did  not  like  the  Canaanites,  so  that  he  disappro¬ 
ved  of  Esau’s  former  marriages,  which  made  him  take  Ba- 
semraath  to  wife,  in  order  to  please  him  5  and  indeed  he  had 
a  great  affection  for  her. 


CHAP.  xrx. 

Concerning  Jacob’s  flight  into  Mesopotamia ,  by  reason  of 
the  fear  he  was  in  of  his  brother . 

§  1.  Now  Jacob  was  sent  by  his  mother  to  Mesopotamia, 
in  order  to  marry  Laban  her  brother’s  daughter,  (which  mar¬ 
riage  was  permitted  by  Isaac,  on  account  of  his  obsequious¬ 
ness  to  the  desires  of  his  wife  ;)  and  he  accordingly  journey¬ 
ed  through  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  and  because  he  hated  the 
people  of  that  country,  he  would  not  lodge  with  any  of  them, 
but  took  up  his  lodging  in  the  open  air,  and  laid  his  head  on  an 
heap  of  stones  that  he  had  gathered  together.  At  which 
lime  he  saw  in  his  sleep  such  a  vision  standing  by  him  :  he 
seemed  to  see  a  ladder,  that  reached  from  the  earth  unto  Iiea- 


120 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  I. 


ven,  and  persons  descending  down  the  ladder,  that  seemed 
more  excellent  than  human  ;  and  at  last  God  himself  stood 
above  it,  ana  was  plainly  visible  to  him,  who  calling  him  by 
his  name,  spake  to  him  in  these  words  : 

2.  “  O  Jacob,  it  is  not  fit  for  thee,  who  art  the  son  of  a 
good  father,  and  grand-son  of  one  who  had  obtained  a  great 
reputation  for  his  eminent  virtue,  to  be  dejected  at  thy  pre¬ 
sent  circumstances,  but  to  hope  for  better  times,  for  thou  shall 
have  great  abundance  of  all  good  things,  by  my  assistance  ; 
for  I  brought  Abraham  hither,  out  of  Mesopotamia,  when  he 
was  driven  away  by  his  kinsman,  and  I  made  thy  father  an 
happy  man  ;  nor  will  I  bestow  a  lesser  degree  of  happiness 
on  thyself.  Be  of  good  courage  therefore,  and,  under  my 
eonduct,  proceed  on  this  thy  journey,  for  the  marriage  thou 
goest  so  zealously  about  shall  be  consummated.  And  thou 
shah  have  children  of  good  characters,  but  their  multitude 
shall  be  innumerable  ;  and  they  shall  leave  what  they  have 
to  a  still  more  numerous  posterity,  to  whom,  and  whose  pos¬ 
terity,  I  give  the  dominion  of  all  the  land,  and  their  posterity 
shall  fill  the  entire  earth  and  sea,  so  far  as  the  sun  beholds 
them.  But  do  not  thou  fear  any  danger,  nor  be  afraid  of  the 
many  labours  thou  must  undergo,  for  by  my  providence  I  will 
direct  thee  what  thou  art  to  do  in  the  time  present,  and  still 
much  more  in  the  time  to  come.” 

3.  Such  were  the  predictions  which  God  made  to  Jacob  : 
whereupon  he  became  very  joyful  at  what  he  had  seen  and 
heard  ;  and  he  poured  oil  on  the  stones,  because  on  them 
the  prediction  of  such  great  benefits  was  made.  He  also 
vowed  a  vow,  that  he  would  offer  sacrifice  upon  them,  if  he 
Jived,  and  returned  safe  ;  and  if  he  came  again  in  such  a  con¬ 
dition,  he  would  give  the  tithe  of  what  he  had  gotten  to  God. 
He  also  judged  the  place  to  be  honourable,  and  gave  it  the 
name  of  Bethel,  which,  in  the  Greek,  is  interpreted,  the  house 
of  God. 

4.  So  he  proceeded  on  his  journey  to  Mesopotamia,  and 
at  length  came  to  Haran  :  and  meeting  with  Shepherds  in  the 
suburbs,  with  boys  grown  up,  and  maidens  sitting  about  a  cer¬ 
tain  well,  he  stayed  with  them,  as  wanting  water  to  drink  : 
and  beginning  to  discourse  with  them,  he  asked  them  whe¬ 
ther  they  knew  such  an  one  as  Laban,  and  whether  he  was 
still  alive.  Now  they  all  said  they  knewr  him,  for  he  was  not 
so  inconsiderable  a  person  as  to  be  unknown  to  any  of  them  ; 
and  that  his  daughter  fed  her  fathers  flock  together  with 
them  ;  and  that  indeed  they  wondered  that  she  was  not  yet 
come,  for  by  her  means  thou  mightest  leant  more  exactly 
whatever  thou  desirest  to  know  about  that  family.  While 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


121 


Chap.  XIX. 

they  were  saying  this,  the  damsel  came  and  the  other  shep- 
herds  that  came  down  along  with  her.  Then  they  showed 
her  Jacob,  and  told  her,  that  he  was  a  stranger  who  came  to 
inquire  about  her  fathers  affairs.  But  she,  as  pleased,  after 
the  custom  of  children,  with  Jacob's  coming,  asked  him  who 
he  was,  and  whence  he  came  to  them,  and  what  it  was  he 
lacked  that  he  came  thither.  She  also  wished  it  might  be  in 
their  power  to  supply  the  wrants  he  came  about. 

5.  But  Jacob  was  quite  overcome,  not  so  much  by  their 
kindred,  nor  by  that  affection  which  might  arise  thence,  as  by 
his  love  to  the  damsel,  and  his  surprise  at  her  beauty,  whicli 
was  so  Nourishing,  as  few  of  the  women  of  that  age  could  vie 
with,  lie  said  then,  “  There  is  a  relation  between  thee  and 
me,  elder  than  either  thy  or  my  births,  if  thou  be  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Laban ;  for  Abraham  was  the  son  of  Terah,  as  well  as 
Haran  and  Nahor.  Of  the  last  of  whom,  IS'ahor,  Bethuel  thy 
grand-father  was  the  son.  Isaac,  my  father,  was  the  son  of 
Abraham  and  Sarah,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Haran.  But 
there  is  a  nearer  and  later  cement  of  mutual  kindred  which 
we  bear  to  one  another,  for  my  mother  Rebeka  was  sister  to 
Laban  thy  father,  both  by  the  same  father  and  mother ;  I 

■  therefore  and  thou  are  cousin-germans.  And  I  am  now  come 
to  salute  you,  and  to  renew  that  affinity  which  is  proper  be¬ 
tween  us.”  Upon  this  the  damsel,  at  the  mention  of  Rebe¬ 
ka,  as  usually  happens  to  young  persons,  wept,  and  that  out 
of  the  kindness  she  had  for  her  father,  and  embraced  Jacob, 
she  having  learned  an  account  of  Rebeka  from  her  father, 
and  knew  that  her  parents  loved  to  hear  her  named ;  and 
when  she  had  saluted  him,  she  said  that  “  he  brought  the 
most  desirable  and  greatest  pleasure  to  her  father,  with  all  their 
family,  who  was  always  mentioning  his  mother,  and  always 
thinking  of  her,  and  her  alone:  and  that  this  will  make  thee 
equal  in  his  eyes  to  any  advantageous  circumstances  whatso¬ 
ever.”  Then  she  bid  him  go  to  her  father,  and  follow  her 
while  she  conducted  him  to  him;  and  not  to  deprive  hint  of 
such  a  pleasure,  b}-  staying  any  longer  away  from  him. 

6.  When  she  had  said  thus,  she  brought  him  to  Laban  : 
and  being  owned  by  his  uncle,  he  was  secure  himself  as  being 
among  his  friends  ;  and  he  brought  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  to 
them  by  his  unexpected  coming.  But  a  little  while  afterward 
Laban  told  him,  that  he  could  not  express  in  words  the  joy 
be  had  at  his  coming;  but  still  he  inquired  of  him  the  occa¬ 
sion  of  his  coming;  and  why  he  left  his  aged  mother  and  fa¬ 
ther,  when  they  wanted  to  be  taken  care  of  by  him  ;  and  that 
he  would  afford  him  all  the  assistance  he  wanted.  Then  Ja¬ 
cob  gave  him  an  account  of  the  whole  occasion  of  his  journey, 

vol.  r.  L 


122 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  L 


and  told  him,  “  That  Isaac  had  two  sons  that  were  twins, 
himself  and  Esau:  who,  because  he  failed  of  his  father’s 
prayers,  which  by  his  mother’s  wisdom  were  put  up  for  him, 
sought  to  kill  him,  as  deprived  of  the  kingdom  which  was  #  to 
be  given  him  of  God,  and  of  the  blessings  for  which  their  fa¬ 
ther  prayed;  and  that  this  was  the  occasion  of  his  coming 
hither,  as  his  mother  had  commanded  him  so  to  do :  for  we 
are  all,  says  Ije,  brethren  one  to  another,  but  our  mother  es¬ 
teems  an  alliance  with  your  family  more  than  she  does  one 
with  the  families  of  the  country  :  so  I  look  upon  yourself  and 
God  to  be  the  supporters  of  my  travels,  and  think  myself  safe 
in  my  present  circumstances.” 

7.  Now  Laban  promised  to  treat  him  with  great  humanitj", 
both  on  account  of  his  ancestors,  and  particularly  for  the  sake 
of  his  mother,  towards  whom,  he  said,  he  would  show  his 
kindness,  even  though  she  were  absent,  by  taking  care  of  him ; 
for  he  assured  him  he  would  make  him  the  head  shepherd  oi 
his  flock,  and  gave  him  authority  sufficient  for  that  purpose ; 
and  when  he  should  have  a  mind  to  return  to  his  parents,  he 
would  send  him  back  with  presents,  and  this  in  as  honoura¬ 
ble  a  manner  as  the  nearness  of  their  relation  should  require. 
This  Jacob  heard  gladly;  and  said  he  would  willingly,  and 
with  pleasure,  undergo  any  sort  of  pains  while  he  tarried 
with  him,  but  desired  Rachel  to  wife,  as  the  reward  of  those 
pains,  who  was  not  only  on  other  accounts  esteemed  by  him , 
but  also  because  she  was  the  means  of  his  coming  to  him ;  for 
he  said  he  was  forced  by  the  love  of  the  damsel  to  make  this 
proposal.  Laban  was  well  pleased  with  this  agreement,  and 
consented  to  give  the  damsel  to  him,  as  not  desirous  to  meet 
with  any  better  son-in-law  ;  and  said  he  would  do  this,  if  he 
would  stay  with  him  some  time,  for  he  was  not  willing  to 
send  his  daughter  to  be  among  the  Canaanites,  for  he  repent¬ 
ed  of  the  alliance  he  had  made  already  by  marrying  his  sis¬ 
ter  there.  And  when  Jacob  had  given  his  consent  to  this, 
he  agreed  to  stay  seven  years ;  for  so  many  years  he  had 
resolved  to  serve  his  father-in-law,  that  having  given  a  spe¬ 
cimen  of  his  virtue,  it  might  be  better  known  what  sort  of  a 
man  he  was.  And  Jucob  accepting  of  his  terms,  after  the 
time  was  over,  he  made  the  wedding-feast ;  and  when  it  was 


*  By  this  deprivation  of  the  kingdom  that  was  to  be  given  Esau  of  God, 
as  the  first-born,  it  appears  that  Josephus  thought  that  a  kingdom  to  be 
derived  from  God,  was  due  to  him  whom  Isaac  should  bless  as  his  first¬ 
born,  which  I  take  to  be  that  kingdom  which  was  expected  under  lk^ 
Messiah ,  who  therefore  was  born  of  his  posterity  whom  Isaac  should  so 
bless.  Jacob  therefore,  by  obtaining  this  blessing  of  the  first-born,,  be 
came  the  genuine  heir  of  that  kingdom.,  in  opposition  (0  Esau. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


123 


C hap.  XIX. 

night,  without  Jacob’s  perceiving  it,  he  put  his  other  daugh¬ 
ter  into  bed  to  him,  who  was  both  elder  than  Rachel,  and  of 
no  comely  countenance  :  Jacob  lay  with  her  that  night,  as 
being  both  in  drink  and  in  the  dark.  However,  when  it  was 
day,  he  knew  what  had  been  done  to  him  :  and  he  reproach¬ 
ed  Laban  for  his  unfair  proceeding  with  him  ;  who  asked 
pardon  for  that  necessity  which  forced  him  to  do  what  he  did : 
for  he  did  not  give  him  Leah  out  of  any  ill  design,  but  as- 
overcome  by  another  great  necessity  :  that  notwithstanding 
this,  nothing  should  hinder  him  from  marking  Rachel ;  but 
that  when  he  had  served  another  seven  years,  he  would  give 
him  her  whom  he  loved.  Jacob  submitted  to  this  condition, 
for  his  love  to  the  damsel  did  not  permit  him  to  do  otherwise; 
and  when  another  seven  years  were  gone,  he  took  Rachel  to 
wife. 

8.  Now  each  of  these  had  handmaids,  by  their  father’s  do¬ 
nation.  Zilpha  was  handmaid  to  Leah,  and  Bilha  to  Rachel, 
by  no  means  '  slaves,  but,  however,  subject  to  their  mistresses. 
Now  Leah  was  sorely  troubled  at  her  husband’s  love  to  her 
sister  ;  and  she  expected  she  should  be  better  esteemed  if  she 
bare  him  children  ;  so  she  entreated  God  perpetually  ;  and 
when  she  had  borne  a  son,  and  her  husband  was  on  that  ac¬ 
count  better  reconciled  to  her,  she  named  her  son  Reubel,  be¬ 
cause  God  had  had  mercy  upon  her,  in  giving  her  a  son,  for 
that  is  the  signification  of  this  name.  After  some  time  she 
bare  three  more  sons  ;  Simeon,  which  name  signifies  that  God 
had  hearkened  to  her  prayer.  Then  she  bare  Levi,  the  con - 
Jirmer  of  their  friendship.  After  him  was  born  Judah,  which 
denotes  thanksgiving.  But  Rachel,  fearing  lest  the  fruitful¬ 
ness  of  her  sister  should  make  herself  enjoy  a  lesser  share  of 
Jacob’s  affections,  put  to  bed  to  him  her  handmaid  Bilha  ;  by 
whom  Jacob  had  Dan  :  one  may  interpret  that  name  into  the 
Greek  tongue,  a  divine  judgment.  And  after  him  Nephta-* 
fim,  as  it  were  unconquerable  in  stratagems,  since  Rachel 


"  Here  we  have  the  difference  between  slaves  for  life,  and  servants, 
such  as  we  now  hire  for  a  time  agreed  upon  on  both  sides,  and  dismiss 
again,  after  the  time  contracted  for  is  over,  which  are  no  slaves,  but  free 
men,  and  free  women  Accordingly,  when  the  Apostolical  Constitutions 
forbid  a  clergyman  to  marry  perpetual  slaves  or  servants,  B.  vi.  cap.  xvii. 
it  meant  only  of  the  former  sort;  as  we  learn  elsewhere  from  the  same 
Constitutions,  cap.  47-  Can.  Ixxxii.  But  concerning  these  twelve  sons 
of  Jacob;  the  reasons  of  their  several  names,  and  the  times  of  their 
several  births  in  the  interval  here  assigned ;  their  several  excellent  cha¬ 
racters;  their  several  faults  and  repentance;  the  several  accidents  of 
their  lives  ;  with  their  several  prophecies  at  their  deaths;  see  the  testa¬ 
ment  of  these  twelve  patriarchs,  still  preserved,  at  large,  in  the  Aiy- 
fhent.  Rec.  part  i.  p.  294 — -443. 


124 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  I- 


tried  to  conquer  the  fruitfulness  of  her  sister  by  this  strata-, 
gem.  Accordingly  Leah  took  the  same  method,  and  used, 
a  counter-stratagem  of  that  of  her  sister’s  ;  for  she  put  to  bed 
to  him  her  own  handmaid.  Jacob  therefore  had  by  Zilpha 
a  son,  whose  name  was  Gad,  which  may  be  interpreted^/or- 
i tune  :  and  after  him  Ashur,  which  may  be  called  an  happy 
man ,  because  he  added  glory  to  Leah.  Now  Reubel,  the  eld¬ 
est  son  of  Leah,  brought*  apples  of  mandrakes  to  his  moth¬ 
er.  When  Rachel  saw  them,  she  desired  that  she  would  give 
her  the  apples,  for  she  longed  to  eat  them  ;  but  when  she  re¬ 
fused,  bid  her  be  content  that  she  had  deprived  her  of  the  be¬ 
nevolence  she  ought  to  have  had  from  her  husband.  Rachel, 
in  order  to  mitigate  her  sister’s  anger,  said  she  would  yield 
her  husband  to  her  ;  and  he  should  lie  with  her  that  evening. 
She  accepted  of  the  favour,  and  Jacob  slept  with  Leah,  by 
the  favour  of  Rachel.  She  bare  then  these  sons,  Issachar, 
denoting  one  born  hy  hire  ;  and  Zabulon,  one  born  a  pledge 
of  benevolence  towards  her  :  and  a  daughter,  Dina.  After 
some  time,  Rachel  had  a  son,  named  Joseph,  which  signified 
there  should  be  another  added  to  him. 

9.  Now  Jacob  fed  the  flocks  of  Laban  his  father-in-law  all 
this  time,  being  twenty  years,  after  which  he  desired  leave  of 
his  father-in-law  to  take  his  wives  and  go  home  ;  but  when 
his  father-in-law  would  not  give  him  leave,  he  contrived  to  do 
it  secretly.  He  made  a  trial  therefore  of  the  disposition  of 
his  wives,  what  they  thought  of  this  journey.  When  they 
appeared  glad,  and  approved  of  it,  Rachel  took  along  with 
her  the  images  of  the  gods,  which  according  to  their  laws  they 
used  to  worship  in  their  own  country,  and  ran  away,  together 
with  her  sister.  The  children  also  of  them  both,  and  the 
handmaids,  and  what  possessions  they  had,  went  along  with 
them.  Jacob  also  drove  away  half  the  cattle,  without  letting 
'.Laban  know  of  it  beforehand.  But  the  reason  why  Rachel 
took  the  images  of  the  gods,  although  Jacob  had  taught  her 
to  despise  such  worship  of  those  gods,  was  this,  that  in  case 
they  were  pursued,  and  taken  by  her  father,  she  might  have 
recourse  to  these  images,  in  order  to  obtain  his  pardon. 

10.  But  Laban,  after  one  day’s  time,  being  acquainted  with 
Jacob’s  and  his  daughter’s  departure,  was  much  troubled,  and 


*  I  formerly  explained  these  mandrakes,  as  we,  with  the  Septuagmt, 
and  Josephus,  render  the  Hebrew  word  Dudaim,  of  the  Syrian  Matts 
with  Ludolphus,  Authent.  Rec  part  i.  p.  420.  But  have  since  seen 
such  a  very  probable  account  in  MS.  of  my  learned  friend  Mr.  Samuel 
Barker’s  of  what  we  still  call  mandrakes,  and  their  descriptions  by  the 
ancient  naturalists  and  physicians,  as  inclines,  me  to  think  these  her.e 
mentioned  were  really  mandrakes,  and  no  other. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


125 


Chap.  XIX. 

pursued  after  them,  leading  a  band  of  men  with  him  ;  and  on 
the  seventh  day  overtook  them,  and  found  them  resting  on  a 
certain  hill  ;  and  then  indeed  he  did  not  meddle  with  them, 
for  it  was  even-tide  ;  but  God  stood  by  him  in  a  dream,  and 
warned  him  to  receive  his  son-in-law,  and  his  daughters,  in  a 
peaceable  manner  ;  and  not  to  venture  upon  any  thing  rash¬ 
ly,  or  in  wrath  to  them,  but  to  make  a  league  with  Jacob. 
And  told  him,  that  if  he  despised  their  small  number,  and  at¬ 
tacked  them  in  an  hostile  manner,  he  would  himself  assist 
them.  When  Laban  had  been  thus  forewarned  by.God,  he 
called  Jacob  to  him  the  next  day,  in  order  to  treat  with  him, 
and  showed  him  what  dream  he  had  ;  in  depVndence  whereon, 
he  came  confidently  to  him,  and  began  to  accuse  him,  alleging 
that  he  had  entertained  him  when  he  was  poor,  and  in  want 
of  all  things,  and  had  given  him  plenty  of  all  things  which 
he  had  ;  “  For,”  said  he,  u  I  have  joined  my  daughters  to 
thee  in  marriage,  and  supposed  that  thy  kindness  to  me  would 
be  greater  than  before  ;  but  thou  hast  had  no  regard  to  either 
thy  own  mother’s  relation  to  me,  nor  to  the  affinity  now  newly 
contracted  between  us  ;  nor  to  those  wives  whom  thou  hast 
married  ;  nor  to  those  children  of  whom  I  am  the  grandfa¬ 
ther.  Thou  hast  treated  me  as  an  enemy,  by  driving  away 
my  cattle  ;  and  by  persuading  my  daughters  to  run  away  from 
their  father  ;  and  by  carrying  home  those  sacred  paternal 
images  which  were  worshipped  by  my  forefathers,  and  have 
been  honoured  with  the  like  worship,  which  they  payed  them, 
by  myself.  In  short,  thou  hast  done  this  whilst  thou  wert 
my  kinsman,  and  my  sister’s  son,  and  the  husband  of  my  daugh¬ 
ters,  and  was  hospitably  treated  by  me,  and  didst  eat  at  my 
table.”  When  Laban  had  said  this,  Jacob  made  his  defence; 
k<  That  he  was  not  the  only  person  in  whom  God  had  im¬ 
planted  the  love  of  his  native  country,  but  that  he  had  made 
it  natural  to  all  men  ;  and  that  therefore  it  was  but  reasona¬ 
ble  that,  after  so  long  time,  he  should  go  back  to  it.  But  as 
to  the  prey,  of  whose  driving  £\vay  thou  accusest  me,  if  any 
other  person  were  the  arbitrator  thou  wouldst  be  found  in  the 
wrong  :  for  instead  of  those  thanks  I  ought  to  have  had  from 
ihee,  for  both  keeping  thy  cattle,  and  increasing  them,  how 
is  it  that  thou  art  unjustly  angry  at  roe  because  I  have  taken, 
and  have  with  me,  a  small  portion  of  them  ?  But  then,  as  to 
thy  daughters,  take  notice,  that  it  is  not  through  any  evil  prac¬ 
tices  of  mine  that  they  follow  roe  in  my  return  home,  but 
from  that  just  affection  which  wives  naturally  have  to  their 
husbands.  They  follow,  therefore,  not  so  properly  myself 
as  their  own  children.”  And  thus  far  of  his  apology  w.as 
made,  in  order  to  clear  himself  of  having  acted  unjustly.— 

L  2 


12  6 


Book  I. 


ANTIQUITIES 

To  which  he  added  his  own  complaint  and  accusation  of  La¬ 
ban  ;  saying,  “  While  I  was  thy  sister's  son,  and  thou  hadst 
given  me  thy  daughters  in  marriage,  thou  hast  worn  me  out 
with  thy  harsh  commands,  and  detained  me  twenty  years  un¬ 
der  them.  That  indeed  which  was  required  in  order  to  my 
marrying  thy  daughters,  hard  as  it  was,  I  own  to  have  been 
tolerable  ;  but  as  to  those  that  were  put  upon  me  after  those 
marriages,  they  were  worse,  and  such  indeed  as  an  enemy 
would  have  avoided.”  For  certainly  Laban  had  used  Jacob 
very  ill  r  for  when  he  saw  that  God  was  assisting  to  Jacob  in 
all  that  he  desire^,  he  promised  him,  that  of  the  young  cattle 
which  should  be  born,  he  should  have  sometimes  what  was 
of  a  white  colour,  and  sometimes  what  should  be  of  a  black 
colour  ;  but  when  those  that  came  to  Jacob’s  share  proved 
numerous,  he  did  not  keep  his  faith  with  him,  but  said  he 
would  give  them  to  him  the  next  year,  because  of  his  envying 
him  the  multitude  of  his  possessions.  He  promised  him  as 
before,  because  he  thought  such  an  increase  was  not  to  be  ex¬ 
pected  ;  but  when  it  appeared  to  be  fact,  he  deceived  him. 

11.  But  then,  as  to  the  sacred  images,  he  bid  him  search 
for  them  ;  and  when  Laban  accepted  of  the  offer,  Rachel  be¬ 
ing  informed  of  it,  put  those  images  into  that  camel’s  saddle 
on  which  she  rode,  and  sat  upon  it ;  and  said,  that  her  natu¬ 
ral  purgation  hindered  her  rising  up :  so  Laban  left  off  search¬ 
ing  any  further,  not  supposing  that  his  daughter,  in  such  cir¬ 
cumstances,  would  approach  to  those  images.  So  he  made  a 
league  with  Jacob,  and  bound  it  by  oaths,  that  he  would  not 
bear  him  any  malice  on  account  of  what  had  happened  ;  and 
Jacob  made  the  like  league,  and  promised  to  love  Laban's 
daughters.  And  these  leagues  they  confirmed  with  oaths  also, 
which  they  made  upon  certain  mountains,  whereon  they  erec¬ 
ted  a  pillar  in  the  form  of  an  altar  :  whence  that  hill  is  called 
Gilead  ;  and  from  thence  they  call  that  land  the  land  of  Gil¬ 
ead  at  this  day.  Now  when  they  had  feasted,  after  the  ma¬ 
king  of  the  league,  Laban  returned  home. 


CHAP.  XN. 

Concerning  the  meeting  of  Jacob  and  Esau. 

§  1.  Now  as  Jacob  was  proceeding  on  his  journey  to  the 
land  of  Canaan,  angels  appeared  to  him,  and  suggested  to  him 
good  hope  of  his  future  condition  ;  and  that  place,  he  named 
the  camp  of  God.  And  being  desirous  of  knowing  what  his 
brother’s  intentions  were  to  him,  he  sent  messengers  to  give 


OF  TIIE  JEWS, 


12.7 


Chap.  XX. 

him  an  exact  account  of  every  thing,  as  being  afraid,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  enmities  between  them.  He  charged  those  that 
were  sent  to  say  to  Esau,  that  “  Jacob  had  thought  it  wrong 
to  live  together  with  him,  while  he  was  in  anger  against  him, 
and  so  had  gone  out  of  the  country  ;  and  that  he  now,  think¬ 
ing  the  length  of  time  of  his  absence  must  have  made  up 
their  differences,  was  returning  :  that  he  brought  with  him  his 
wives  and  his  children,  with  what  possessions  he  had  gotten  $ 
and  delivered  himself,  with  what  was  most  dear  to  him,  into 
his  hands  ;  and  should  think  it  his  greatest  happiness  to  par¬ 
take,  together  with  his  brother,  of  what  God  had  bestowed 
upon  him.”  So  these  messengers  told  him  this  message.  Up¬ 
on  which  Esau  was  very  glad,  and  met  his  brother  with  four 
hundred  men.  And  Jacob,  when  he  heard  that  he  was  com¬ 
ing  to  meet  him  with  such  a  number  of  men,  was  greatly 
afraid ;  however,  he  committed  his  hope  of  deliverance  to 
God  ;  and  considered  how,  in  his  present  circumstances,  he 
might  preserve  himself,  and  those  that  were  with  him,  and 
overcome  his  enemies,  if  they  attacked  them  injuriously.  He, 
therefore,  distributed  his  company  into  parts  ;  some  he  set 
before  the  rest,  and  the  others  he  ordered  to  come  close  be¬ 
hind,  that  so  if  the  first  were  overpowered  when  his  brother 
attacked  them,  they  might  have  those  that  followed  as  a  refuge 
to  fly  unto.  And  when  he  had  put  his  company  in  this  order, 
he  sent  some  of  them  to  carry  presents  to  his  brother.  The 
presents  were  made  up  of  cattle,  and  a  great  number  of  four- 
footed  beasts,  of  many  kinds,  such  as  would  be  very  accepta¬ 
ble  to  those  that  received  them,  on  account  of  their  rarity. 
Those,  who  were  sent,  went  at  certain  intervals  of  space  asun¬ 
der,  that,  by  following  thick  after  one  another,  they  might  ap¬ 
pear  to  be  the  more  numerous,  that  Esau  might  remit  of  his 
anger  on  account  of  these  presents,  if  he  were  still  in  a  pas¬ 
sion.  Instructions  were  also  given  to  those  that  were  sent  to 
speak  gently  to  him. 

2.  When  Jacob  had  made  these  appointments  all  the  day', 
and  night  came  on,  he  moved  on  with  his  company  ;  and  as 
they  were  gone  over  a  certain  river  called  Jabboc ,  Jacob  was 
left  behind,  and  meeting  with  an  angel,  he  wrestled  with  him, 
the  angel  beginning  to  struggle  ;  but  he  prevailed  over  the 
angel,  who  used  a  voice,  and  spake  to  him  in  words,  exhorting 
him  to  be  pleased  with  what  had  happened  to  him,  and  not  to 
suppose  that  his  victory  was  a  small  one,  for  that  he  had  over- 
ro/ne  a  divine  angel ;  and  to  esteem  the  victory  as  a  sign  of 
great  blessings  that  should  come  to  him ;  and  that  his  offspring 
should  never  fail ;  and  that  no  man  should  be  too  hard  for  his 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  1. 


128 


power.  lie  also  commanded  him  to  be  called*  Israel,  whieh 
in  the  Hebrew  tongue  signifies  one  that  struggled  with  the  di¬ 
vine  angel.  These  promises  were  made  at  the  prayer  of 
Jacob  5  for  when  he  perceived  him  to  be  the  angel  of  God. 
he  desired  he  would  signify  to  him  what  should  befal  him 
hereafter.  And  when  the  angel  had  said  what  is  before  re¬ 
lated,  he  disappeared  :  but  Jacob  was  pleased  with  these 
tilings,  and  named  the  place  Phanuel,  which  signifies  the  face 
of  God.  Now  when  he  felt  pain  by  this  struggling,  on  his 
broad  sinew,  he  abstained  from  eating  that  sinew  himself  af¬ 
terward  ;  and  for  his  sake  it  is  still  not  eaten  by  us. 

3.  When  Jacob  understood  that  his  brother  was  near,  he 
ordered  his  wives  to  go  before,  each  by  herself,  with  the 
handmaids,  that  they  might  see  the  actions  of  the  men  as 
they  were  fighting,  if  Esau  were  so  disposed.  He  then 
went  up  to  his  brother  Esau,  and  bowed  down  to  him,  who 
had  no  evil  design  upon  him,  but  saluted  him  ;  and  asked 
him  about  the  company  of  the  children,  and  of  the  women  : 
and  desired,  when  he  had  understood  all  he  wanted  to  know 
about  them,  that  he  would  go  along  with  him  to  their  father  ; 
but  Jacob  pretending  that  the  cattle  were  weary,  Esau  re¬ 
turned  to  Seir,  for  there  was  his  place  of  habitation,  he  having 
named  the  place  roughness ,  from  his  own  hairy  roughness. 


CHAP.  XXI. 

Concerning  the  violation  of  Dina’s  chastity. 

§  1.  Hereupon  Jacob  came  to  the  place,  till  this  day  call¬ 
ed  Tents  [Succoth,]  from  whence  he  went  to  Schechem. 
w  hich  is  a  city  of  the  Canaanites.  Now  as  the  Schechemites 
were  keeping  a  festival,  Dina,  who  was  the  only  daughter  of 
Jacob,  went  into  the  city  to  see  the  finery  of  the  women  of 
that  country.  But  when  Schechem,  the  son  of  Hamor  the 
king,  saw  her,  he  defiled  her  by  violence  ;  and  being  greatly 
in  love  with  her,  he  desired  of  his  father  that  he  would  pro¬ 
cure  the  damsel  to  him  for  a  wife.  To  which  desire  he  con¬ 
descended  ;  and  came  to  Jacob,  desiring  him  to  give  leave 
that  his  son  Schechem  might,  according  to  law,  marry  Dina. 
But  Jacob,  not  knowing  how  to  deny  the  desire  of  one  of 
such  great  dignity,  and  yet  not  thinking  it  lawful  to  marry  his 

*  Perhaps  this  may  he  the  proper  meaning  of  the  word  Israel  by  the- 
present,  and  the  old  Jerusalem  analogy  of  the  Hebrew  tongue,  in  the 
mean  time,  it  is  certain  that  the  Hellenists  of  the  first  century,  in  Egypt 
and  elsewhere,  interpreted  Is-ra  cl  to  he  a  wan  seeing  God,  as  is  evident 
from  the  argument  forecited. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


129 


Chap.  XXL 

daughter  to  a  stranger,  entreated  him  to  give  him  leave  to 
have  a  consultation  about  what  he  deisred  him  to  do.  So  the 
king  went  away  in  hopes  that  Jacob  would  grant  him  this 
marriage.  But  Jacob  informed  his  sons  of  the  defilement 
of  their  sister,  and  of  the  address  of  Hamor  ;  and  desired 
them  to  give  him  their  advice  what  they  should  do.  Upon 
this,  the  greaiest  part  said  nothing,  not  knowing  what  advice 
to  give.  But  Simeon  and  Levi,  the  brethren  of  the  damsel 
by  the  same  mother,  agreed  between  themselves  upon  the  ac¬ 
tion  following.  It  being  now  the  time  of  a  festival,  when 
the  Schechemites  were  employed  in  ease  and  feasting,  they 
fell  upon  the  watch  when  they  were  asleep,  and  coming  in 
the  city,  slew*  all  the  males;  as  also  the  king  and  his  «on 
with  them  ;  but  spared  the  women.  And  when  they  had 
done  this  without  their  father’s  consent,  they  brought  away 
their  sister. 

2.  Now  while  Jacob  was  astonished  at  the  greatness  of  this 
act,  and  was  severely  blaming  his  sons  for  it,  God  stood  by 
him,  and  bid  him  be  of  good  courage  ;  but  to  purify  his  tents, 
and  to  offer  those  sacrifices  which  he  had  vowed  to  offer, 
when  he  went  first  into  Mesopotamia,  and  saw  his  vision. 
As  he  was,  therefore,  purifying  his  followers,  he  light  upon 
the  gods  of  Laban,  (for  he  did  not  before  know  they  were 
Stolen  by  Rachel,)  and  he  hid  them  in  the  earth  under  an  oak, 
in  Schechem,  and  departing  thence,  he  offered  sacrifice  at 
Bethel,  the  place  where  he  saw  his  dream,  when  lie  went  first 
into  Mesopotamia. 

3.  And  when  he  was  gone  thence,  and  was  come  over 
against  Ephrata,  he  there  buried  Rachel,  who  died  in  child¬ 
bed  ;  she  was  the  only  one  of  Jacob’s  kindred  that  had  not 
the  honour  of  burial  at  Hebron.  And  when  he  had  mourned 
for  her  a  great  while,  he  called  the  son  that  was  born  of  herf 
Benjamin ,  because  of  the  sorrow  the  mother  had  w ith  him. 

*  Of  this  slaughter  of  the  Schechemites  by  Simeon  and  Levi,  see  Air 
thent.  Rec.  part.  i.  p.  309,  418,  432,  439.  But  why  Josephus  has 
omitted  the  circumcision  of  these  Schechemites,  as  the  occasion  of  their 
death,  and  of  Jacob’s  great  grief,  as  in  the  testament  of  Levi,  sec.  5, 1 
cannot  tell. 

t  Since  Benoni  signifies  the  son  of  my  sorrow,  and  Benjamin  the  son 
of  days,  or  one  born  in  the  father’s  old  age,  Gen.  xliv.  20, 1  suspect  Jose¬ 
phus’s  present  copies  to  be  here  imperfect;  and  I  suppose,  that  in  car- 
respondence  to  other  copies,  he  wrote  that  Rachel  called  her  son’s  name 
Benoni,  but  his  father  called  him  Benjamin,  Gen.  xxxv.  18.  As  for  Ben¬ 
jamin.  as  commonly  explained,  the  son  of  the  right  hand,  it  makes  no 
sense  at  all,  and  seems  to  be  a  gross  modern  error  only.  The  Samari  ¬ 
tan  always  writes  this  name  truly  Benjamin,  which  probable  is  here  of 
the  same  signification,  only  with  the  Chaldee  termination  in  stead  of 
bn,  in  the  Hebrew,  as  we  pronounce  Cherubin  or  Cherubim  indifferent- 


Book  L 


£30  ANTIQUITIES,  &c. 

These  arc  all  the  children  of  Jacob,  twelve  males,  and  one 
female.  Of  them,  eight  were  legitimate,  viz.  six  of  Leah, 
and  two  of  Rachel ;  and  four  were  of  the  handmaids,  two  ot 
•each  j  all  whose  names  have  been  set  down  already. 


CHAP.  XXII. 

How  Isaac  died ,  and  was  buried  in  Hebron. 

Fiiom  thence  Jacob  came  to  Hebron,  a  city  situate  among 
the  Canaanites  ;  and  there  it  was  that  Isaac  lived  :  and  so 
they  lived  together  for  a  little  while  ;  for  as  to  Rebeka,  Ja¬ 
cob  did  not  find  her  alive.  Isaac  also  died  not  long  after  the 
coming  of  his  son  ;  and  was  buried  by  his  sons,  with  his  wife, 
in  Hebron,  where  they  had  a  monument  belonging  to  them 
from  their  forefathers.  Now  Isaac  was  a  man  who  was  belov¬ 
ed  of  God,  and  was  vouchsafed  great  instances  of  providence 
by  God,  after  Abraham  his  father  ;  and  lived  to  be  exceeding 
old  :  for  when  he  had  lived  virtuously  one  hundred  and  eigh¬ 
ty-five  years,  he  then  died. 


*y.  Accordingly,  both  the  testament  of  Benjamin,  §  ••  v>-  401,  and  Phi¬ 
lo  de  nominum  mulationc,  p.  1059,  write  the  name  Benjamin ,  but  ex  - 
.plain  it  not  the  son  of  his  right  hand,  but  the  son  of  days. 


B0©1£  XX. 

CONTAINING  THE  INTERVAL  OF  220  YEARS, 
f  From  the  death  of  Isaac,  to  the  Esodus  out  of  Egypt.] 


CHAP.  I. 

0  •  ’ 

How  Esau  and  Jacob ,  the  sons  of  Isaac,  divided  their  habit¬ 
ation  ;  and  Esau  possessed  Idumea ,  and  Jacob  Canaan . 

§  1.  After  the  death  of  Isaac,  his  sons  divided  their  ha¬ 
bitations  respectively.  Now  they  did  retain  what  they  had 
before  ;  but  Esau  departed  from  the  city  of  Hebron,  and  left 
it  to  his  brother,  and  dwelt  in  Seir,  and  ruled  over.  Idumea. 
He  called  the  country  by  that  name  from  himself,  for  he  was 
named  Adorn  ;  which  appellation  he  got  on  the  following  oc¬ 
casion.  One  day  returning  from  the  toil  of  hunting,  very 
hungry,  (it  was  when  he  was  a  child  in  age,)  he  lighted  on  his 
brother  when  he  was  getting  ready  lentile-pottage  for  his  din¬ 
ner  which  was  of  a  very  red  colour  ;  on  which  account  he 
the  more  earnestly  longed  for  it,  and  desired  him  to  give  him 
some  of  it  to  eat  :  but  he  made  advantage  of  his  brother’s 
hunger,  and  forced  him  to  resign  up  to  him  his  birthright,  and 
he  being  pinched  with  famine,  resigned  it  up  to  him  under  an 
oath.  Whence  it  came,  that,  on  account  of  the  redness  of 
‘his  pottage,  he  was  in  a  way  of  jest,  by  his  cotemporaries, 
called  Adorn,  for  the  Hebrews  call  what  is  red  Adorn  ;  and 
this  was  the  name  given  to  this  country  :  but  the  Greeks  give 
it  a  more  agreeable  pronunciation,  and  named  it  Idumea. 

2.  He  became  the  father  of  five  sons  :  of  whom  Jaus,  and 
Jalomus,  and  Coreus,  were  by  one  wife,  whose  name  was  Ali- 
bama  $  but  of  the  rest,  Aliphaz  was  born  to  him  by  Ada,  and 
Raguel  by  Bazemath  ;  and  these  were  the  sons  of  Esau. 
Aliphaz  had  five  legitimate  sons,  Theman,  Omer,  Saphus, 
Gotham,  and  Kanaz  ;  for  Amalek  was  not  legitimate,  but  by 
h  concubine,  whose  name  was  Tamana.  These  dwelt  in  that 
part  of  Idumea  which  was  called  Gebalitis,  and  that  denomi¬ 
nated  from  Amalek,  Amclekitis ;  for  Idumea  was  a  large 
country,  and  did  then  preserve  the  name  of  the  whole,  while 
in  its  several  parts  it  kept  the  names  of  its  peculiar  inhabit¬ 
ants. 


132 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  II. 


CHAP.  II. 

II ow  Joseph,  the  youngest  of  Jacob's  sons,  was  envied  by 

his  brethren,  when  certain  dreams  had  foreshoiced  his  fu¬ 
ture  happiness. 

§  1.  It  happened  that  Jacob  came  to  so  great  happiness 
as  rarely  any  other  person  has  arrived  at.  He  was  richer 
than  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  country  :  and  was  at 
once  envied  and  admired  for  such  virtuous  sons,  for  they  were 
deficient  in  nothing,  but  were  of  great  souls,  both  for  labour¬ 
ing  with  their  hands,  and  enduring  of  toil  ;  and  shrew  d  also 
in  understanding.  And  God  exercised  such  a  providence  over 
him,  and  such  a  care  of  his  happiness,  as  to  bring  him  the 
greatest  blessings,  even  out  of  what  appeared  to  be  the  most 
sorrowful  condition  ;  and  to  make  him  the  cause  of  our  fore¬ 
fathers’  departure  out  of  Egypt,  him  and  his  posterity.  The 
occasion  was  this  ;  when  Jacob  had  this  son  Joseph  born  to 
him  by  Rachel,  his  father  loved  him  above  the  rest  of  his  sons, 
both  because  of  the  beauty  of  his  body,  and  the  virtues  of  his 
mind,  for  he  excelled  the  rest  in  prudence.  This  affection  of 
his  father  excited  the  envy  and  the  hatred  of  his  brethren  ;  as 
did  also  his  dreams  which  he  saw,  and  related  to  his  father  and 
to  them,  which  foretold  his  future  happiness,  it  being  usual  with 
mankind  to  envy  their  very  nearest  relations  such  their  pros¬ 
perity.  Now  the  visions  which  Joseph  saw  in  his  sleep  were 
these  : 

2.  When  they  were  in  the  middle  of  harvest,  and  Joseph 
was  sent  by  his  father  with  his  brethren,  to  gather  the  fruits  of 
the  earth,  he  saw  a  vision  in  a  dream,  but  greatly  exceeding 
the  accustomary  appearances  that  come  when  we  are  asleep  ; 
which,  when  he  was  got  up,  he  told  his  brethren,  that  they 
might  judge  what  it  portended.  He  said,  u  He  saw  the  last 
night,  that  his  w’heat  sheaf  stood  still  in  the  place  where  he 
set  it,  but  that  their  sheaves  ran  to  bow  down  to  it,  as  ser¬ 
vants  bow  down  to  their  masters.”  But  as  soon  as  they  per¬ 
ceived  the  vision  foretold  that  he  should  obtain  power  and 
great  wealth,  and  that  his  power  should  be  in  opposition  to 
them,  they  gave  no  interpretation  of  it  to  Joseph,  as  if  the 
dream  were  not  by  them  understood  :  but  they  prayed  that 
no  part  of  what  they  suspected  to  be  its  meaning  might  come 
to  pass  ;  and  they  bare  a  still  greater  hatred  to  him  on  that  ac¬ 
count. 

-3.  But  God,  in  opposition  to  their  envy,  sent  a  second 
vision  to  Joseph  which  Was  much  more  wonderful  than  the 
former  ;  for  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  sun  took  with  him  the 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


133 


Chap.  III. 

moon,  and  the  rest  of  the  stars,  and  came  down  to  the  earth, 
and  bowed  down  to  him.  ile  told  this  vision  to  his  father, 
and  that,  as  suspecting  nothing  of  ill-will  from  his  brethren, 
when  they  were  there  also,  desired  him  to  interpret  what 
it  should  signify.  Now  Jacob  was  pleased  with  the  dream  ; 
for,  considering  the  prediction  in  his  mind,  and  shrewdly  and 
wisely  guessing  at  its  meaning,  he  rejoiced  at  the  great  things 
thereby  signified,  because  it  declared  the  future  happiness  of 
his  son  ;  and  that,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  the  time  should 
come,  when  he  should  be  honoured,  and  thought  worthy  of 
worship  by  his  parents  and  brethren,  as  guessing  that  the 
moon  and  sun  were  like  his  mother  and  father ;  the  former, 
as  she  that  gave  increase  and  nourishment  to  all  things,  and 
the  latter,  he  that  gave  form  and  other  powers  to  them ;  and 
that  the  stars  were  like  his  brethren,  since  they  were  eleven 
in  number,  as  were  the  stars  that  receive  their  power  from 
the  sun  and  moon 

4.  And  thus  did  Jacob  make  a  judgment  of  his  vision,  and 
that  a  shrewd  one  also.  But  these  interpretations  caused 
very  great  grief  to  Joseph’s  brethren  :  and  they  were  affect¬ 
ed  to  him  hereupon,  as  if  he  were  a  certain  stranger,  that  was 
to  have  those  good  things  which  were  signified  by  the  dreams, 
and  not  as  one  that  was  a  brother,  with  whom  it  was  probable 
they  should  be  joint  partakers;  and  as  they  had  been  part¬ 
ners  in  the  same  parentage,  so  should  they  be  of  the  same 
happiness.  They  also  resolved  to  kill  the  lad  ;  and  having 
fully  ratified  that  intention  of  theirs,  as  soon  as  their  collection 
©f  the  fruits  was  over,  they  went  to  Schechem,  which  is  a 
country  good  for  feeding  of  cattle,  and  for  pasturage,  there 
they  fed  their  flocks,  without  acquainting  their  father  with 
their  removal  thither :  whereupon  he  had  melancholy  suspi¬ 
cions  about  them,  as  being  ignorant  of  his  sons’  condition,  and 
receiving  no  messenger  from  the  flocks  that  could  inform  him 
of  the  true  state  they  were  in ;  so,  because  he  was  in  great 
fear  about  them,  he  sent  Joseph  to  the  flocks,  to  learn  the 
circumstances  his  brethren  were  in,  and  to  bring  him  word 
how  they  did. 

CIIAP.  III. 

How  Joseph  mas  thus  sold  by  his  brethren  into  Egypt,  by  rea¬ 
son  of  their  hatred  to  him;  and  how  he  there,  grew  famous 

and  illustrious,  and  had  his  brethren  under  his  power. 

•§  1.  Now  these  brethren  rejoiced,  as  soon  as  they  saw  their 
brother  coming  to  them,  not  indeed  Tts  at  the  presence  of  r 
vot.  x.  M 


134 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  II. 


near  relation,  or  as  at  the  presence  of  one  sent  by  their  father, 
but  a?  at  the  presence  of  an  enemy,  and  one  that  by  divine 
providence  was  delivered  into  their  hands ;  and  they  already 
resolved  to  kill  him,  and  not  let  slip  the  opportunity  that 
lay  before  them.  But  when  Reubel,  the  eldest  of  them,  saw 
them  thus  disposed,  and  that  they  had  agreed  together  to 
execute  their  purpose,  he  tried  to  restrain  them,  showing 
them  the  heinous  enterprise  they  were  going  about,  and  the 
horrid  nature  of  it :  that  this  action  would  appear  wicked  in 
the  sight  of  God,  and  impious  before  men,  even  though  they 
should  kill  one  not  related  to  them,  but  much  more  flagi¬ 
tious  and  detestable  to  appear  to  have  slain  their  own  bro¬ 
ther  ;  by  which  act  the  father  must  be  treated  unjustly  in  the 
son’s  slaughter,  and  the  *  mother  also  be  in  perplexity  while 
she  laments  that  her  son  is  taken  away  from  her,  and  this 
hot  in  a  natural  way  neither.  So  he  entreated  them  to  have 
a  regard  to  their  own  consciences,  and  wisely  to  consider 
what  mischief  would  betide  them  on  the  death  of  so  good  a 
child,  and  their  youngest  brother;  that  they  would  also  fear 
God,  who  was  already  both  a  spectator  and  a  witness  of  the 
designs  they  had  against  their  brother;  that  he  would  love 
them  if  they  abstained  from  this  act,  and  yielded  to  repent¬ 
ance  and  amendment :  but  in  case  they  proceeded  to  do  the 
fact,  all  sorts  of  punishments  would  overtake  them  from  God 
for  this  murder  of  their  brother,  since  they  polluted  his  pro¬ 
vidence,  which  was  every  where  present,  and  which  did  not 
overlook  what  was  done  either  in  deserts  or  cities;  for  where¬ 
soever  a  man  is,  there  ought  he  to  suppose  that  God  is  also. 
He  told  them  further,  that  their  consciences  would  be  their 
enemies,  if  they  attempted  to  go  through  so  wicked  an  enter¬ 
prise,  which  they  can  never  avoid,  whether  it  be  a  good  con¬ 
science,  or  whether  it  be  such  an  one  as  they  will  have  with¬ 
in  them,  when  once  they  have  killed  their  brother.  He  also 
added  this  besides  to  what  he  had  before  said,  that  it  was  not  a 
righteous  thing  to  kill  a  brother,  though  he  had  injured  them; 
that  it  is  a  good  thing  to  forget  the  actions  of  such  near  friends, 
even  in  things  wherein  they  might  seem  to  have  offended ; 
but  that  they  were  going  to  kill  Joseph,  who  had  been  guilty 
of  nothing  that  was  ill  towards  them,  in  whose  case  the  infir¬ 
mity  of  his  small  age  should  rather  procure  him  mercy#  and 


*  We  may  here  observe,  that  in  correspondence  to  Joseph’s  second 
dream,  which  implied,  that  his  mother ,  who  was  then  alive,  as  well  as 
his  father,  should  come  and  how  down  to  him,  Josephus  represents  her 
here  as  still  alive  after  she  wras  dead,  for  the  decorum  of  the  dream  that 
foretold  it,  as  the  interpretation  of  that  dream  does  also  in  all  our  copies, 
Gen.  xxxvii.  10. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


135 


Chap. Ill . 

move  them  to  unite  together  in  the  care  of  his  preservation. 
That  the  cause  of  killing  him  made  the  act  itself  much  worse, 
while  they  determined  to  take  him  off  out  of  envy  at  his  fu¬ 
ture  prosperity  ;  an  equal  share  of  which  thoy  would  natu¬ 
rally  partake  while  lie  enjoyed  it,  since  they  were  to  him  not 
strangers,  but  the  nearest  relations,  for  they  might  reckon  up¬ 
on  what  God  bestowed  upon  Joseph  as  their  own,  and  that  it 
was  fit  for  them  to  believe  that  the  anger  of  God  would  for 
this  cause  be  more  severe  upon  them,  if  they  slew  him  who 
was  judged  by  God  to  be  worthy  of  that  prosperity  which 
was  to  be  hoped  for  ;  and  while,  by  murdering  him,  they 
made  it  impossible  for  God  to  bestow  it  upon  him. 

2.  Reubel  said  these,  and  many  other  things,  and  used  en¬ 
treaties  to  them,  and  thereby  endeavoured  to  divert  them  from 
the  murder  of  their  brother.  But  when  he  saw  that  his  dis¬ 
course  had  not  mollified  them  at  all,  and  that  they  made  haste 
to  do  the  fact,  he  advised  them  to  alleviate  the  wickedness 
they  were  going  about,  in  the  manner  of  taking  Joseph  off ; 
for  as  he  had  exhorted  them  first,  when  they  were  going  to 
revenge  themselves,  to  be  dissuaded  from  doing  it,  so  since  the 
sentence  for  killing  their  brother  had  prevailed,  he  said  that 
they  would  not,  however,  be  so  grossly  guilty  if  they  would 
be  persuaded  to  follow  his  present  advice,  which  would  include 
what  they  were  so  eager  about,  but  was  not  so  very  bad,  but, 
in  the  distress  they  were  in,  of  a  lighter  nature.  He  begged 
of  them,  therefore,  not  to  kill  their  brother  with  their  own 
hands,  but  to  cast  him  into  the  pit  that  was  hard  by,  and  so 
let  him  die ;  by  which  they  would  gain  so  much,  that  they 
would  not  defile  their  own  hands  with  his  blood.  To  tb># 
the  young  men  readily  agreed  ;  so  Reubel  took  the  lad,  and 
tied  him  to  a  cord,  and  let  him  down  gently  into  the  pit,  for 
it  had  no  water  at  all  in  it ;  who,  when  he  had  done  this,  went 
his  way  to  seek  for  such  pasturage  as  was  fit  for  feeding  their 
flocks. 

But  Judas,  being  one  of  Jacob’s  sons  also,  seeing  some 
Arabians,  of  the  posterity  of  Ishmael,  carrying  spices  and 
Syrian  wares  out  of  the  land  of  Gilead  to  the  Egyptians,  af¬ 
ter  Reubel  was  gone,  advised  his  brethren  to  draw  Joseph  out 
of  the  pit,  and  sell  him  to  the  Arabians  ;  for  if  he  should  die 
among  strangers  a  great  way  off,  they  should  be  freed  from 
this  barbarous  action.  This,  therefore  was  resolved  on  :  so 
they  drew  Joseph  up  out  of  the  pit,  and  sold  him  to  the  mer¬ 
chants  for*  twenty  pounds.  He  was  rmw  seventeen  years  old. 

*  The  Sepluagiiit  have  20  ces  ot  g.  ■>.  e  :  lament  of  Gad  30; 
the  Hebrew  and  Samaritan  20  of  silver ;  and  the  vulgar  Latin  30.  What 
',ras  the  true  number,  and  true  sum,  cannot  therefore  now  bo  known. 


136 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  Jf. 


But  Reubcl  coming  in  the  night-time  to  the  pit,  resolved  to 
save  Joseph,  without  the  privity  of  his  brethren  ;  and  when, 
upon  his  calling  to  him,  he  made  him  no  answer,  he  was  afraid 
that  they  had  destroyed  him  after  he  was  gone  ;  of  which  he 
Complained  to  his  brethren,  but  when  they  had  told  him  what 
they  had  done,  Reubel  left  off  his  mourning. 

4.  When  Joseph’s  brethren  had  done  thus  to  him,  they 
considered  what  they  should  do  to  escape  the  suspicions  of 
their  father.  Now  they  had  taken  away  from  Joseph  the 
coat  which  he  had  on  when  he  came  to  them,  at  the  time 
they  let  him  down  into  the  pit ;  so  they  thought  proper  to  tear 
that  coat  to  pieces,  and  to  dip  it  into  goat’s  blood,  and  then  to 
Carry  it,  and  show  it  to  their  father,  that  he  might  believe  he 
was  destroyed  by  wild  beasts.  And  when  they  had  so  done, 
they  came  to  the  old  man,  but  this  not  till  what  had  happened 
to  his  son  had  already  come  to  his  knowledge  :  then  they 
said  that  they  had  not  seen  Joseph,  nor  knew  what  mishap 
had  befallen  him,  but  that  they  had  found  his  coat  bloody, 
and  torn  to  pieces,  whence  they  had  a  suspicion  that  he  had 
fallen  among  wild  beasts,  and  so  perished,  if  that  was  the 
coat  he  had  on  when  he  came  from  home.  Now  Jacob  had 
before  some  better  hopes  that  his  son  was  only  made  a  cap¬ 
tive  ;  but  now  he  laid  aside  that  notion,  and  supposed  that 
this  coat  was  an  evident  argument  that  he  was  dead,  for  he 
well  remembered  that  this  was  the  coat  he  had  on  when  he 
sent  hitn  to  his  brethren  ;  so  h<  hereafter  lamented  the  lad  as 
now  dead,  as  if  he  had  been  the  father  of  no  more  than  one, 
without  taking  any  comfort  in  the  rest;  and  so  he  was  also 
effected  with  his  misfortune  before  he  met  with  Joseph’s 
brethren,  when  he  also  conjectured  that  Joseph  was  destroy¬ 
ed  by  wild  beasts,  lie  sat  down  also  clothed  in  sackloth  and 
in  heavy  affliction,  insomuch  that  be  found  no  ease  when  his 
sons  comforted  him,  neither  did  his  pains  remit  by  length  oi 
time. 


CHAP.  IV. 

Concerning  the  signal  chastity  of  Joseph. 

§  1.  Now  Potiphar,  an  Egyptian,  who  was  chief  cook  to 
king  Pharaoh,  bought  Joseph  of  the  merchants,  who  sold 
him  to  him.  He  had  him  in  the  greatest  honour,  and  taught 
him  the  learning  that  became  a  free  man,  and  gave  him  leave 
to  make  use  of  a  diet  better  than  was  allotted  to  slaves.  He 
intrusted  also  the  care  of  his  house  to  him.  So  he  enjoyed 
these  advantages  ;  yet  did  not  leave  that  virtue  which  he  had 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  Ilr. 


InV 

ST 


Ijefore,  upon  such  a  change  of  his  condition,  but  he  demon¬ 
strated  that  wisdom  was  able  to  govern  the  uneasy  passions 
of  life,  in  such  as  have  it  in  reality,  and  do  not  only  put  it  on 
for  a  show,  under  a  present  state  of  prosperity. 

2.  For  when  his  master’s  wife  was  fallen  in  love  with  him, 
both  on  account  of  his  beauty  of  body,  and  his  dexterous 
management  of  affairs  ;  and  supposed,  that  if  she  should 
make  it  known  to  him,  she  should  easily  persuade  him  to 
come  and  lie  with  her,  and  that  he  would  look  on  it  as  a  piece 
of  happy  fortune  that  his  mistress  should  entreat  him,  as  re¬ 
garding  that  state  of  slavery  he  was  in,  and  not  his  moral 
character,  which  continued  after  his  condition  was  changed  : 
so  she  made  known  her  naughty  inclinations  ;  and  spake  to 
him  about  lying  with  her.  However,  be  rejected  her  entrea¬ 
ties,  not  thinking  it  agreeable  to  religion  to  yield  so  far  toiler, 
as  to  do  what  would  tend  to  the  affront  and  injury  of  him  that 
purchased  him,  and  had  vouchsafed  him  so  great  honours. 
He,  on  the  contrary,  exhorted  her  to  govern  that  passion  ; 
and  laid  before  her  the  impossibility  of  her  obtaining  her  de¬ 
sires,  which  lie  thought  might  be  conquered,  if  she  had  no 
hope  of  succeeding  ;  and  he  said,  that  as  to  himself,  he  would 
endure  any  thing  whatever,  before  he  would  be  persuaded  to 
it ;  for  although  it  was  fit  for  a  slave  as  he  was,  to  do  nothing 
contrary  to  his  mistress,  he  might  well  be  excused  in  a  case 
where  the  contradiction  was  to  such  sort  of  commands  only. 
But  this  opposition  of  Joseph’s,  when  she  did  not  expect  it, 
made  her  still  more  violent  in  her  love  to  him  ;  and  she  was 
sorely  beset  with  this  naughty  passion,  so  she  resolved  to 
compass  her  design  by  a  second  attempt. 

3.  When  therefore  there  was  a  public  festival  coming  on, 
in  which  it  was  the  custom  for  women  to  come  to  the  public 
solemnity,  she  pretended  to  her  husband  that  she  was  sick, 
as  contriving  an  opportunity  for  solitude  and  leisure,  that  she 
might  entreat  Joseph  again  :  which  opportunity  being  obtain¬ 
ed,  she  used  more  kind  words  to  him  than  before  ;  and  said, 
that  it  had  been  good  for  him  to  have  yielded  to  her  first  so-  - 
licitution,  and  to  have  given  her  no  repulse,  both  because  of 
the  reverence  he  ought  to  bear  to  her  dignity,  who  solicited, 
him,  and  because  of  the  vehemency  of  her  passion,  by  which 
she  was  forced,  though  she  were  his  mistress,  to  condescend 
beneath  her  dignity,  but  that  he  may  now,  by  taking  more 
prudent  advice,  wipe  off  the  imputation  of  his  former  folly  j 
for  whether  it  were  that  he  expected  a  repetition  of  her  soli¬ 
citations,  she  had  now  made  it,  and  that  with  greater  earnest¬ 
ness  than  before,  for  that  she  had  pretended  sickness  on  this 
verv  account,  and  had  preferred  his  conversation  before  the 

M  2 


138 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  1L 


festival  and  its  solemnity  ;  or  whether  he  opposed  her  former 
discourses,  as  not  believing  she  could  be  in  earnest,  she  now 
gave  him  sufficient  security,  by  thus  repeating  her  application, 
that  she  meant  not  in  the  least  by  fraud  to  impose  upon  him  : 
and  assured  him  that  if  he  complied  with  her  affections  he 
might  expect  the  enjoyment  of  the  advantages  he  already  had  j 
and  if  he  were  submissive  to  her,  he  should  have  still  greater 
advantages ;  but  that  he  must  look  for  revenge  and  hatred 
from  her,  in  case  he  rejected  her  desires,  and  preferred  the 
reputation  of  chastity  before  his  mistress  ;  for  that  he  would 
gain  nothing  by  such  procedure,  because  she  would  then  be¬ 
come  his  accuser,  and  would  falsely  pretend  to  her  husband 
that  he  attempted  her  chastity  ;  and  that  Potiphar  would  hear¬ 
ken  to  her  words  rather  than  to  his,  let  this  be  never  so  agree¬ 
able  to  the  truth. 

4.  When  the  woman  had  said  thus,  and  even  with  tears  in 
her  eyes,  neither  did  pity  dissuade  Joseph  from  his  chastity, 
nor  did  fear  compel  him  to  a  compliance  with  her  ;  but  he 
opposed  her  solicitations,  and  did  not  yield  to  her  threaten- 
ings,  and  was  afraid  to  do  any  ill  thing,  and  chose  to  undergo 
the  sharpest  punishment,  rather  than  to  enjoy  his  present  ad¬ 
vantages,  by  doing  what  his  own  conscience  knew  would  just¬ 
ly  deserve  that  he  should  die  for  it.  He  also  put  her  in  mind 
that  she  was  a  married  woman,  and  that  she  ought  to  cohabit 
with  her  husband  only  ;  and  desired  her  to  suffer  these  con¬ 
siderations  to  have  more  weight  with  her  than  the  short  plea¬ 
sures  of  lustful  dalliance,  which  would  bring  bet  to  repent¬ 
ance  afterwards  ;  would  cause  trouble  to  her,  and  yet  would 
not  amend  what  had  been  done  amiss.  He  also  suggested  to 
her  the  fear  she  would  be  in,  lest  they  should  be  caught ;  and 
that  the  advantage  of  concealment  was  uncertain,  and  that 
only  while  the  wickedness  was  not  known  [would  there  be 
any  quiet  for  them  ;]  but  that  she  might  have  the  enjoyment 
of  her  husband's  company  without  any  danger.  And  he  told 
her,  that  in  the  company  of  her  husband  she  might  have  great 
boldness,  from  a  good  conscience,  both  before  God,  and  be¬ 
fore  men.  Nay,  that  she  would  act  better1  like  his  mistress, 
nnd  make  use  of  her  authority  over  him  better,  while  she  per¬ 
sisted  in  her  chastity,  than  when  they  were  both  ashamed  for 
what  wickedness  they  had  been  guilty  of ;  and  that  it  is  much 
better  to  depend  on  a  good  life,  well  acted,  and  known  to  have 
been  so,  than  upon  the  hopes  of  the  concealment  of  evil 
practices. 

5.  Joseph,  by  saying  this,  and  more,  tried  to  restrain  the 
violent  passion  of  the  woman,  and  to  reduce  her  affections 
within  the  rules  of  reason  ;  but  she  grew  more  ungovernable 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


139 


Chap.  IV. 

and  earnest  in  the  matter  ;  and  since  she  despaired  of  per¬ 
suading  him,  she  laid  hands  upon  him,  and  had  a  mind  to 
force  him.  But  as  soon  as  Joseph  had  got  away  from  her 
anger,  leaving  also  his  garment  with  her,  for  he  left  that  to 
her,  and  leaped  out  of  her  chamber,  she  was  greatly  afraid 
lest  he  should  discover  her  lewdness  to  her  husband,  and 
.greatly  troubled  at  the  affront  he  had  offered  her,  so  she  resol¬ 
ved  to  be  beforehand  with  him,  and  to  accuse  Joseph  falsely 
to  Potiphar,  and  by  that  means  to  revenge  herself  on  him  for 
the  pride  and  contempt  of'her ;  and  she  thought  it  a  wise 
thing  in  itself,  and  also  becoming  a  woman,  thus  to  prevent 
his  accusation.  Accordingly  she  sat  sorrowful,  and  in  con¬ 
fusion,  framing  herself  so  hypocritically  and  angrily,  that  the 
sorrow,  which  was  really  for  her  being  disappointed  of  her 
lugt,  might  appear  to  be  for  the  attempt  upon  her  chastity  ; 
so  that  when  her  husband  came  home,  and  was  disturbed  at 
the  sight  of  her,  and  inquired  what  was  the  cause  of  the  dis¬ 
order  she  was  in,  she  began  to  accuse  Joseph  :  and  said,  “  O 
husband,  mayest  thou  not  live  a  day  longer,  if  thou  dost  not 
punish  the  wicked  slave,  who  has  desired  to  defile  thy  bed  ; 
who  has  neither  minded  who  he  was,  when  he  came  to  our 
house,  so  as  to  behave  himself  with  modesty  ;  nor  has  he  been 
mindful  of  what  favours  he  had  received  from  thy  bounty,  (as 
he  must  be  an  ungrateful  man  indeed,  unless  he,  in  every  re¬ 
spect,  carry  himself  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  us  :)  this  man, 
I  say,  laid  a  private  design  to  abuse  thy  wife,  and  this  at  the 
time  of  a  festival,  observing  when  thou  wouldst  be  absent. 
So  that  it  is  now  clear,  that  his  modesty,  as  it  appeared  to  be 
formerly,  was  only  because  of  the  restraint  he  was  in  out  of 
fear  of  thee,  but  that  he  was  not  really  of  a  good  disposition. 
This  has  been  occasioned  by  his  being  advanced  to  honour 
beyond  what  he  deserved,  and  what  he  hoped  for,  insomuch 
that  he  concluded,  that  he  who  was  deemed  lit  to  be  entrusted 
with  thy  estate,  and  the  government  of  thy  family,  and  was 
preferred  above  thy  eldest  servants,  might  be  allowed  to 
touch  thy  wife  also.*’  Thus  when  she  had  ended  her  dis¬ 
course,  she  showed  him  his  garment,  as  if  he  then  left  it  with 
her  when  lie  attempted  to  force  her.  But  Potiphar,  not  be¬ 
ing  able  to  disbelieve  what  his  wife’s  tears  showed,  and  what 
his  wife  said,  and  what  he  saw  himself,  and  being  seduced  by 
his  love  to  his  wife,  did  not  set  himself  about  the  examination 
of  the  truth,  but  taking  it  for  granted  that  his  wife  was  a  mo¬ 
dest  woman,  and  condemning  Joseph  as  a  wicked  man,  he 
threw  him  into  the  malefactor’s  prison  ;  and  bad  a  still  higher 
opinion  of  his  wife,  and  bare  her  witness,  that  she  was  a  wo* 
man  of  a  becoming  modesty  and  chastity. 


1 40 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  II. 


CHAP.  V. 

What  things  befel  Joseph  in  prison. 

^  1.  Now  Joseph,  commending  all  his  affairs  to  God,  did 
not  betake  himself  to  make  his  defence,  nor  to  give  an  ac¬ 
count  of  the  exact  circumstances  of  the  fact,  but  silently  un¬ 
derwent  the  bonds  and  the  distress  he  was  in,  firmly  believing 
that  God,  who  knew  the  cause  of  his  affliction,  and  the  truth 
of  the  fact,  would  be  more  powerful  than  those  that  inflicted 
the  punishments  upon  him  ;  a  proof  of  whose  providence  he 
quickly  received  ;  for  the  keeper  of  the  prison  taking  notice 
of  his  care  and  fidelity  in  the  affairs  he  had  set  him  about, 
and  the  dignity  of  his  countenance,  relaxed  his  bonds,  and 
thereby  made  his  heavy  calamity  lighter,  and  more  supporta¬ 
ble  to  him  :  he  also  permitted  him  to  make  use  of  a  diet  bet¬ 
ter  than  that  of  the  rest  of  the  prisoners.  Now  as  his 
fellow-prisoners,  when  their  hard  labours  were  over,  fell  to 
discoursing  one  among  another,  as  is  usual  in  such  as  are 
equal  sufferers,  and  to  inquire  one  of  another  what  were  the 
occasions  of  their  being  condemned  to  a  prison.  Among 
them,  the  king’s  cup-bearer,  and  one  that  had  been  respected 
b}r  him,  was  put  in  bonds  upon  the  king’s  anger  at  him.  This 
man  was  under  the  same  bonds  with  Joseph,  and  grew  fnore 
familiar  with  him  ;  and  upon  his  observing  that  Joseph  had 
a  better  understanding  than  the  rest  had,  he  told  him  of  a 
dream  he  had,  and  desired  he  would  interpret  its  meaning, 
complaining,  that  besides  the  afflictions  he  underwent  from 
the  king,  God  did  also  add  to  him  trouble  from  his  dreams. 

2.  He  therefore  said,  that  in  his  sleep  he  saw  three  clus¬ 
ters  of  grapes  hanging  upon  three  branches  of  a  vine,  large 
already,  and  ripe  for  gathering  ;  and  that  he  squeezed  them 
into  a  cup,  which  the  king  held  in  his  hand  ;  and  when  he 
had  strained  the  wine,  he  gave  it  to  the  king  to  drink,  and 
that  he  received  it  from  him  with  a  pleasant  countenance. 
This  he  said  was  what  he  saw  ;  and  he  desired  Joseph,  that 
if  he  had  any  portion  of  understanding  in  such  matters,  he 
would  tell  him  what  this  vision  foretold  ;  who  bid  him  be  of 
good  cheer,  and  expect  to  be  loosed  from  his  bonds  in  three 
days'  time,  because  the  king  desired  his  service,  and  was 
about  to  restore  him  to  it  again  :  for  he  let  him  know,  that 
God  bestows  the  fruit  of  the  vine  upon  men  for  good  ;  which 
wine  is  poured  out  to  him,  and  is  the  pledge  of  fidelity  and 
mutual  confidence  among  men  ;  and  puts  an  end  to  their 
quarrels,  takes  away  passion  and  grief  out  of  the  minds  of 
them  that  use  it,  and  makes  them  cheerful.  Thou  sayest  that 


OF  TEIE  JEWS. 


141 


Chap.  V. 

thou  didst  squeeze  this  wine  from  three  clusters  of  grapes, 
with  thine  hands,  and  that  the  king  received  it ;  know  there* 
fore,  that  this  vision  is  for  thy  good,  and  foretels  a  release 
from  thy  present  distress,  within  the  same  number  of  days  as 
the  branches  had,  when  thou  gatheredst  thy  grapes  in  thy 
sleep.  However,  remember  what  prosperity  1  have  foretold 
thee,  when  thou  hast  found  it  true  by  experience  :  and  when 
thou  art  in  authority,  do  not  overlook  us  in  this  prison,  where¬ 
in  thou  wilt  leave  us  when  thou  art  gone  to  the  place  we  have 
foretold  ;  for  we  are  not  in  prison  for  any  crime,  but,  for  the 
sake  of  our  virtue  and  sobriety,  are  we  condemned  to  suffer 
the  penalty  of  malefactors,  and  because  we  are  not  willing  to 
injure  him  that  has  thus  distressed  us  though  it  were  for  our 
own  pleasure.  The  cup-bearer,  tnerefore,  as  was  natural  to 
do,  rejoiced  to  hear  such  an  interpretation  of  his  dream,  and 
waited  the  completion  of  what  had  been  thus  showed  him  be¬ 
forehand 

3.  But  another  servant  there  was  of  the  king’s,  who  had 
been  chief  baker,  and  was  now  bound  in  prison  with  the  cup¬ 
bearer,  lie  also  was  in  good  hope,  upon  Joseph’s  interpreta¬ 
tion  of  the  other’s  vision,  for  he  had  seen  a  dream  also  ;  so 
he  desired  that  Joseph  would  tell  him  what  the  visions,  he  had 
seen  the  night  before,  might  mean.  They  were  these  that 
follow.  Methought,  says  he,  I  carried  three  baskets  upon  my 
head  ;  two  were  full  of  loaves,  and  the  third  full  of  sweet¬ 
meats,  and  other  eatables,  such  as  are  prepared  for  kings  ; 
but  that  the  fowls  came  flying,  and  eat  them  all  up,  and  had 
no  regard  to  my  attempt  to  drive  them  away.  And  he  expec¬ 
ted  a  prediction  like  that  of  the  cup-bearer’s.  But  Joseph, 
considering  and  reasoning  about  the  dream,  said  to  him,  that 
he  would  willingly  be  an  interpreter  of  good  events  to  him, 
and  not  f  such  as  his  dream  denounced  to  him  $  but  he  told 
him,  that  he  had  only  three  days  in  all  to  live  ;  for  that  the 
[three]  baskets  signify,  that  on  the  third  day  he  should  be 
Crucified,  and  devoured  by  fowls,  while  he  was  not  able  to 
help  himself.  Now  both  these  dreams  had  the  same  several 
events  that  Joseph  foretold  they  shoul  have,  and  this  to  both 
the  parties  ;  for  on  the  third  day  before  mentioned,  when  the. 
king  solemnized  his  birth-day,  he  crucified  the  chief  baker, 
but  set  the  but  er  free  from  his  bonds,  and  restored  him  to  his 
former  ministration. 

4.  But  God  freed  Joseph  from  his  confinement,  after  he 
had  endured  his  bonds  two  years,  and  had  received  no  assis¬ 
tance  from  the  cup-bearer,  who  did  not  remember  what  he 
had  said  to  him  formerly  ;  and  God  contrived  this  method  of 
deliverance  for  him.  Pharaoh,  the  king,  had  seen  in  his  sleep, 


142 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  li¬ 


the  same  evening,  two  visions  ;  and  after  them  had  the  inter¬ 
pretation  of  them  both  given  him.  He  had  forgotten  the 
latter,  but  retained  that  of  the  dreams  themselves.  Being 
therefore  troubled  at  what  he  had  seen,  for  it  seemed  to  him 
to  be  all  of  a  melancholy  nature,  the  next  day  he  called  to¬ 
gether  the  wisest  men  among  the  Egyptians,  desiring  to  learn 
from  them  the  interpretation  of  his  dreams  :  but  when  they 
hesitated  about  them,  the  king  was  so  much  the  more  disturb¬ 
ed.  And  now  it  was  that  the  memory  of  Joseph,  and  his 
skill  in  dreams,  came  into  the  mind  of  the  king’s  cup-bearer, 
when  he  saw  the  confusion  that  Pharaoh  was  in,  so  he  came 
and  mentioned  Joseph  to  him,  as  also  the  vision  he  had  seen 
in  prison,  and  how  the  event  proved  as  he  had  said  ;  as  also 
that  the  chief  baker  was  crucified  on  the  very  same  day  ;  and 
that  this  also  happened  to  him,  according  to  the  interpretation 
of  Joseph.  That  Joseph  himself  was  laid  in  bonds  by  Poti- 
phar,  who  was  his  head  cook  as  a  slave  ;  but  he  said,  he  was 
one  of  the  noblest  of  the  stock  of  the  Hebrews  :  and  said  far¬ 
ther,  that  his  father  lived  in  great  splendour.  If,  therefore, 
thou  wilt  send  for  him,  and  not  despise  him  on  the  score  of 
his  misfortunes,  thou  wilt  learn  what  thy  dreams  signify.  So 
the  king  commanded  that  they  should  bring  Joseph  into  his 
presence  ;  and  those,  who  received  the  command,  came  and 
brought  him  with  them,  having  taken  care  of  his  habit,  that 
it  might  be  decent,  as  the  king  had  enjoined  them  to  do. 

5.  But  the  king  took  him  by  the  hand  ;  and  said,  <e  O 
young  man,  my  servant  bears  witness  that  thou  art  at  present 
the  best  and  most  skilful  person  I  can  consult  with,  vouchsafe 
me  the  same  favours  which  thou  bestowedst  on  this  servant  of 
mine,  and  tell  me  what  events  they  are,  which  the  visions  of 
my  dreams  foreshow  ;  and  I  desire  thee  to  suppress  nothing 
out  of  fear  ;  nor  to  flatter  me  with  lying  words,  or  with  what 
may  please  me,  although  the  truth  should  be  of  a  melancholy 
nature.  For  it  seemed  to  me,  that  as  I  walked  by  the  river, 
I  saw  kine  fat  and  very  large,  seven  in  number,  going  from 
the  river  to  the  marshes ;  and  other  kine  of  the  same  num¬ 
ber  like  them  beat  them  out  of  the  marslies,  exceeding  lean, 
and  ill-favoured,  which  eat  up  the  fat  and  the  large  kine,  and 
yet  were  no  better  than  before,  and  not  less  miserably  pinch¬ 
ed  with  famine.  After  I  had  seen  this  vision,  I  waked  out  of 
my  sleep  ;  and  being  in  disorder,  and  considering  with  my¬ 
self  what  appearance  this  should  be,  I  fell  asleep  again,  and 
saw  another  dream  much  more  wonderful  than  the  foregoing, 
which  did  still  more  affright  and  disturb  me.  I  saw  seven 
ears  of  corn  growing  out  of  one  root,  having  their  heads 
borne  down  by  the  weight  of  the  grains,  and  bending  down 


Chap.  V.  OF  THE  JEWS.  148 

with  the  fruit  which  was  now  ripe,  and  fit  for  reaping  ;  and 
near  these  [  saw  seven  other  ears  of  corn,  meagre  and  weak, 
tor  want  of  rain,  which  fell  to  eating  and  consuming  those 
that  were  fit  for  reaping,  and  put  me  into  great  astonish¬ 
ment.” 

0.  To  which  Joseph  replied  :  “  This  dream,  O  king,  al¬ 
though  seen  under  two  forms,  signifies  one  and  the  same  event 
of  things ;  for  when  thou  sawest  the  kine,  which  is  an  animal 
made  for  the  plough  and  for  labour,  devoured  by  the  worsev 
kine  ;  and  the  ears  of  corn  eaten  up  by  the  smaller  ears, 
they  foretell  a  famine  and  want  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 
for  the  same  number  of  years,  and  equal  with  those  when 
Egypt  was  in  an  happy  state  ;  and  this  so  far,  that  the  plenty 
of  these  years  will  be  spent  in  the  same  number  of  years  of 
scarcity,  and  that  scarcity  of  necessary  provisions  will  be 
very  difficult  to  be  corrected ;  as  a  sign  whereof,  the  ill-fa¬ 
voured  kine,  when  they  had  devoured  the  better  sort,  could 
not  be  satisfied.  But  still  God  foreshows  what  is  to  come 
upon  men,  not  to  grieve  them,  but  that  when  they  know  it 
beforehand,  they  may,  by  prudence,  make  the  actual  experi¬ 
ence  of  what  is  foretold  the  more  tolerable.  If  thou,  there?- 
fore,  carefully  dispose  of  the  plentiful  crops,  which  will  come 
in  the  former  years,  thou  wilt  procure  that  the  future  calamity 
will  not  be  felt  by  the  Egyptians.” 

7-  Hereupon  the  king  wondered  at  the  discretion  and  wis¬ 
dom  of  Joseph  ;  and  asked  him  by  what  means  he  might  so 
dispense  the  foregoing  plentiful  crops  in  the  happy  years,  as 
to  make  the  miserable  crops  more  tolerable.  Joseph  then 
added  this  his  advice  :  to  spare  the  good  crops,  and  not  permit 
die  Egyptians  to  spend  them  luxuriously,  but  to  reserve  what 
they  would  have  spent  in  luxury,  beyond  their  necessity, 
against  the  time  of  want.  lie  also  exhorted  him  to  take  the 
corn  of  the  husbandmen,  and  give  them  only  so  much  as 
Would  be  sufficient  for  their  food.  Accordingly,  Pharaoh  be¬ 
ing  surprised  at  Joseph,  not  only  for  his  interpretation  of  the 
dream,  but  for  the  counsel  he  had  given  him,  intrusted  him 
with  dispensing  the  corn  ;  with  power  to  do  what  he  thought 
would  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  Egypt,  and  for  the 
benefit  of  the  king,  a3  believing  that  he  who  first  discovered 
this  method  of  acting,  would  prove  the  best  overseer  of  it. 
But  Joseph  having  this  power  given  him  by  the  king,  with 
leave  to  make  use  of  his  seal,  and  to  wear  purple,  drove  in 
his  chariot  through  all  the  land  of  Egypt ;  and*  took  the  corn 
of  the  husbandmen,  allotting  as  much  to  every  one  as  would 


*  That  is,  bought  it  for  Pharaoh,  at  a  very  low  price. 


144  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  II. 

be  sufficient  for  seed  and  for  food,  but  without  discovering  to 
any  one  the  reason  he  did  so. 


CHAP.  VI. 

How  Joseph ,  when  he  ioas  become  famous  in  Egypt,  had  his 
brethren  in  subjection. 

§  1.  Joseph  was  now  grown  up  to  thirty  years  of  age; 
and  enjoyed  great  honours  from  the  king,  who  called  him. 
Psothom  Phanech,  out  of  regard  to  his  prodigious  degree  of 
wisdom,  for  that  name  denotes  the  reveuler  of  secrets.  He 
also  married  a  wife  of  a  very  high  quality  :  for  he  married 
the  daughter  of*  Petephres,  one  of  the  priests  of  Heliopolis  : 
she  was  a  virgin,  and  her  name  was  Asenatli.  By  her  he 
had  children  before  the  scarcity  came  on,  Menasseh  the  elder, 
which  signifies  forgetful,  because  his  present  happiness  made 
him  forget  his  misfortunes  ;  and  Ephraim,  the  younger, 
which  signifies  restored,  because  he  was  restored  to  the  free¬ 
dom  of  his  forefathers.  Now  after  Egjpt  had  happily  pass¬ 
ed  over  seven  years,  according  to  Joseph’s  interpretation  of 
the  dreams,  the  famine  came  upon  them  in  the  eighth  year  ; 
and  because  this  misfortune  fell  upon  them  when  they  had! 
no  sense  of  it  beforehand,  they  were  all  sorely  afflicted  by  it, 
and  came  running  to  the  king’s  gates  ;  and  he  called  upon 
Joseph,  who  sold  the  corn  to  them,  being  become  confessed¬ 
ly  a  saviour  to  the  whole  multitude  of  the  Egyptians.  Nor 
did  he  open  this  market  of  corn  for  the  people  of  that  coun¬ 
try  only,  but  strangers  had  liberty  to  buy  also,  Joseph  being 
willing  that  all  men,  who  are  naturally  a-kin  to  one  another, 
should  have  assistance  from  those  that  lived  in  happiness. 

2.  Now  Jacob  also,  when  he  understood  that  foreigners 
might  come,  sent  all  his  sons  into  Egypt  to  buy  corn,  for  the 
land  of  Canaan  was  grievously  afflicted  with  the  famine ;  and 

*  This  Potiphar,  or  as  in  Josephus  Petephres,  who  was  now  a  priest 
of  On  or  Heliopolis,  is  the  same  name  in  Josephus,  and  perhaps  in  Mo¬ 
ses  also,  with  him  who  is  before  called  the  Head  Coolc  or  Captain  of  Iht 
Guard,  and  to  whom  Joseph  w'as  sold.  See  Gen  xxxvii.  36,  xxxix  ], 
with  xli.  50.  They  are  also  affirmed  lo  be  one  and  the  same  person  in 
the  testament  of  Joseph,  §  18,  for  he  is  there  said  to  have  married  the 
daughter  of  his  master  and  mistress.  Nor  is  this  a  notion  peculiar  to 
that  teslameiR;  but,  as  Dr  Barnard  confesses,  note  on  Antiq.  B-  ii.  ch. 
iv.  §  1,  common  to  Josephus,  to  the  Septuagint  interpreters,  and  to 
other  learned  Jews  of  old  time 

t  This  entire  ignorance  of  the  Egyptians  of  these  years  of  famine  be¬ 
fore  they  came,  told  us  before,  as  well  as  here,  ch.  v.  §  7,  by  Josephus, 
seems  to  be  almost  incredible.  It  is  in  no  other  copy  (hat  I  know  ok 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


145 


Chap.  VI. 

this  great  misery  touched  the  whole  continent!  He  only  re¬ 
tained  Benjamin,  who  was  born  to  him  by  Rachel,  and  was 
of  the  same  mother  with  Joseph.  The  sons  of  Jacob  then 
came  into  Egypt,  and  applied  themselves  to  Joseph,  wanting 
to  buy  corn ;  for  nothing  of  this  kind  was  done  without  his 
approbation,  since  even  then  only  was  the  honour  that  was 
paid  to  the  king  lrmself  advantageous  to  the  persons  that  paid 
it,  when  they  took  care  to  honour  Joseph  also.  Now  when 
he  well  knew  his  brethren,  they  thought  nothing  of  him,  for 
he  was  but  a  youth  when  he  left  them,  and  now  was  come  to  an 
age  so  much  greater,  that  the  lineaments  of  hi$  face  were 
changed,  and  lye  was  not  known  by  them;  besides  this,  the 
greatness  of  his  dignity  wherein  he  appeared,  suffered  them 
not  so  much  as  to  suspect  it  wras  he.  He  r.ow  made  trial 
what  sentiments  they  had  about  affairs  of  the  greatest  conse¬ 
quence;  for  he  refused  to  sell  them  corn,  and  said  they  were 
come  as  spies  of  the  king’s  affairs ;  and  that  they  came  from 
several  countries,  and  joined  themselves  together,  and  pre¬ 
tended  that  they  were  of  kin,  it  being  not  possible  that  a  pri¬ 
vate  man  should  breed  up  so  many  sons,  and  those  of  so  great 
beauty  of  countenance  as  they  were,  such  an  education  of  so 
many  children  being  not  easily  obtained  by  kings  themselves. 
Now  this  he  did  in  order  to  discover  what  concerned  his  fa¬ 
ther,  and  what  happened  to  him  after  his  own  departure  from 
him,  and  as  desiring  to  know  what  was  become  of  Benjamin 
his  brother  :  for  he  was  afraid  that  they  had  ventured  on  the 
like  wicked  enterprise  against  him,  that  they  had  done  to  him¬ 
self,  and  had  taken  him  off  also. 

3.  Now  these  brethren  of  his  were  under  distraction  and 
terror,  and  thought  that  very  great  danger  hung  over  them  ; 
yet  not  at  all  reflecting  on  their  brother  Joseph,  and  standing 
firm  under  the  accusations  laid  against  them,  they  made  their 
defence  by  Reubel,  the  eldest  of  them,  who  now  became 
there  spokesman  :  u  W e  come  not  hither,  said  he,  with  any 
unjust  design,  nor  in  order  to  bring  any  harm  to  the  king’s  af¬ 
fairs,  we  only  want  to  be  preserved,  as  supposing  your  hu¬ 
manity  might  be  a  refuge  for  us  from  the  miseries  which  our 
country  labours  under,  we  having  heard  that  you  proposed 
to  sell  corn,  not  only  to  your  own  countrymen,  but  to  strangers 
also,  and  that  you  determined  to  allow  that  corn  in  order  to 
preserve  all  that  want  it :  but  that  we  are  brethren,  and  of 
the  same  common  blood,  the  peculiar  lineaments  of  our  face, 
and  those  not  much  difference  from  one  another,  plainly  show. 
Our  father’s  name  is  Jacob,  an  Hebrew  man,  who  had  twelve 
of  us  for  his  sons,  by  four  wives;  which  twelve  of  us,  while 
we  were  all  alive,  were  an  happy  family :  but  when  one  of 
yol.  ».  N 


146 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  IL 


our  brethren,  whose  name  was  Joseph ,  died,  our  affairs  chang 
ed  for  the  worse ;  for  our  father  could  not  forbear  to  make 
a  long  lamentation  for  him,  and  we  are  in  affliction,  both  by 
the  calamity  of  the  death  of  our  brother,  and  the  miserable 
state  of  our  aged  father.  We  are  now,  therefore,  come  to 
buy  corn,  having  intrusted  the  care  of  our  father,  and  the 
provision  for  our  family,  to  Benjamin,  our  youngest  brother; 
and  if  thou  sendest  to  our  house,  thou  mayest  learn  whether 
we  are  guilty  of  the  least  falsehood  in  what  we  say.” 

4.  And  thus  did  Reubel  endeavour  to  persuade  Joseph  to 
have  a  better  opinion  of  them.  But  when  he  had  learned 
from  them  that  Jacob  was  alive,  and  that  his  brother  w^as  not 
destroyed  by  them,  he,  for  the  present,  put  them  in  prison, 
as  intending  to  examine  more  into  their  affairs  when  he  should 
be  at  leisure.  But  on  the  third  day  he  brought  them  out, 
and  said  to  them,  that  since  you  constantly  affirm  that  you  are 
not  come  to  do  any  harm  to  the  king’s  affairs ;  that  you  are 
brethren,  and  the  sons  of  the  father  whom  you  named,  you 
wTill  satisfy  me  of  the  truth  of  what  you  say,  if  you  leave  one 
of  your  company  with  me,  who  shall  suffer  no  injury  here; 
and  if,  when  you  have  carried  corn  to  your  father,  you  will 
come  to  me  again,  and  bring  your  brother,  whom  you  say  you 
left  there,  along  with  you ;  for  this  shall  be  by  me  esteemed 
an  assurance  of  the  truth  of  what  you  have  told  me.  Here¬ 
upon  they  were  in  greater  grief  than  before :  they  wept, 
and  perpetually  deplored  one  among  another  the  calamity  of 
Joseph;  and  said,  “They  w’ere  fallen  into  this  misery,  as  a 
punishment  inflicted  by  God  for  what  evil  contrivances  they 
had  against  him.”  And  Reubel  was  large  in  his  reproaches 
to  them  for  their  too  late  repentance,  whence  no  profit  arose 
to  Joseph :  and  earnestly  exhorted  them  to  bear  with  pa¬ 
tience  whatever  they  suffered,  since  it  was  done  by  God  in 
way  of  punishment  on  his  account.  Thus  they  spake  to  one 
another,  not  imagining  that  Joseph  understood  their  language. 
A  general  sadness  also  seized  on  them  at  Reubel’s  words,  and  a 
repentance  for  what  they  had  done  :  and  they  condemned  the 
wickedness  they  had  perpetrated,  for  w  hich  they  judged  they 
were  justly  punished  by  God.  Now  when  Joseph  saw  that 
they  were  in  this  distress,  he  was  so  affected  at  it,  that  he 
fell  into  tears,  and  not  being  willing  that  they  should  take  no¬ 
tice  of  him,  he  retired  ;  and  after  a  while  came  to  them  again, 
and  taking  *  Simeon,  in  order  to  his  being  a  pledge  for  his 

*  The  reason  why  Simeon  might  be  selected  out  of  the  rest  for  Jo¬ 
seph’s  prisoner,  is  plain  in  the  testament  of  Simeon, viz.  that  lie  was  one 
of  the  bitterest  of  all  Joseph’s  brethren  against  him,  §  2,  which  ap¬ 
pears  also  in  part  by  the  testament  of  Zabuion,  §  3. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


14? 


VI. 


brethren’s  return,  he  bid  them  take  the  corn  they  had  bought, 
and  go  their  way.  He  also  commanded  his  steward  privily 
to  put  the  money  which  they  had  brought  with  them  for  the 
purchase  of  corn,  into  their  sacks,  and  to  dismiss  them  there¬ 
with  ;  who  did  what  he  was  commanded  to  do. 

5.  Now  when  Jacob's  sons  were  come  into  the  land  of  Ca¬ 
naan,  they  told  their  father  what  had  happened  to  them  in 
Egypt,  and  that  they  were  taken  to  have  come  thither  as 
spies  on  the  king  ;  and  how  they  said  they  were  brethren  ; 
and  had  left  their  eleventh  brother  with  their  father,  but  were 
not  believed  ;  and  how  they  had  left  Simeon  with  the  gover¬ 
nor,  until  Benjamin  should  go  thither,  and  be  a  testimonial  of 
the  truth  of  what  they  had  said  :  and  they  begged  of  their 
father  to  fear  nothing,  but  to  send  the  lad  along  with  them. 
But  Jacob  was  not  pleased  with  any  thing  his  sons  had  done  ; 
and  he  took  the  detention  of  Simeon  heinously,  and  thence 
thought  it  a  foolish  thing  to  give  up  Benjamin  also.  Neither 
did  he  yield  to  Reubel’s  persuasion,  though  he  begged  it  of 
him  ;  and  gave  leave  that  the  grand-father  might,  in  way  of 
requital,  kill  his  own  sons,  in  case  any  harm  came  to  Benja¬ 
min  in  the  journey.  So  they  were  distressed,  and  knew  not 
what  to  do  ;  nay,  there  was  another  accident  that  still  distur¬ 
bed  them  more,  the  money  that  was  found  hidden  in  their 
sacks  of  corn.  Yet  when  the  corn  they  had  bought  failed 
them,  and  when  the  famine  still  afflicted  them,  and  necessity 
forced  them,  Jacob  did*  [not]  still  resolve  to  send  Benjamin 
with  his  brethren,  although  there  was  no  returning  into  Egypt, 
unless  they  came  with  what  they  had  promised.  Now  the 
misery  growing  every  day  worse,  and  his  sons  begging  it  of 
him,  he  had  no  other  course  to  take  in  his  present  circum¬ 
stances.  And  Judas,  who  was  of  a  bold  temper  on  other  oc¬ 
casions,  spake  his  mind  very  freely  to  him  :  “  That  it  did 
not  become  him  to  be  afraid  on  account  of  his  son,  nor  to 
suspect  the  worst,  as  he  did,  for  nothing  could  be  done  to  his 
son  but  by  the  appointment  of  God,  which  must  also  for  cer¬ 
tain  come  to  pass  though  he  were  at  home  with  him  :  that  he 
ought  not  to  condemn  them  to  such  manifest  destruction  ; 
nor  deprive  them  of  that  plenty  of  food  they  might  have  from 
Pharaoh,  by  his  unreasonable  fear  about  his  son  Benjamin, 
but  ought  to  take  care  of  the  preservation  of  Simeon,  lest,  by 
attempting  to  hinder  Benjamin’s  journey,  Simeon  should  per¬ 
ish.  He  exhorted  them  to  trust  God  for  him  ;  and  said,  he 
Would  either  bring  his  son  back  to  him  safe,  or,  together  with 

*  The  coherence  seems  10  me  to  show,  that  the  negative  particle  is 
here  wanting,  which  I  have  supplied  in  brackets,  and  I  wonder  none 
have  hitherto  suspected  it  ought  to  be  supplied. 


m 

<  § 


248 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  IT- 


his,  lose  his  own  life.”  So  that  Jacob  was  at  length  persua¬ 
ded,  and  delivered  Benjamin  to  them,  with  the  price  of  the 
corn  doubled  :  he  also  sent  presents  to  Joseph,  of  the  fruits 
of  the  land  of  Canaan,*  balsam,  and  rosing  as  also  turpen¬ 
tine,  and  honey.  Now  their  father  shed  many  tears  at  the 
departure  of  his  sons,  as  well  as  themselves.  His  concern 
was,  that  he  might  receive  them  back  again  safe  after  their 
journey  ;  and  their  concern  was,  that  they  might  find  -heir 
father  well,  and  no  way  afflicted  with  grief  for  them.  And 
this  lamentation  lasted  a  whole  day  :  so  that  the  old  man  was 
at  last  tired  with  grief,  and  stayed  behind  :  but  they  went  on 
their  way  for  Egypt,  endeavouring  to  mitigate  their  grief  for 
their  present  misfortunes,  with  the  hopes  of  better  success 
hereafter 

6.  As  soon  as  they  came  into  Egypt,  they  were  brought 
down  to  Joseph  :  but  here  no  small  fear  disturbed  them,  lest 
thej?  should  be  accused  about  the  price  of  the  corn,  as  if  they 
had  cheated  Joseph.  They  then  made  a  long  apology  to  Jo¬ 
seph’s  steward  ;  and  told  him,  that  when  they  came  home, 
they  found  the  money  in  their  sacks,  and  that  they  had  now 
brought  it  along  with  them.  He  said,  he  did  not  know  what 
they  meant.  So  they  wrere  delivered  from  that  fear.  And 
when  he  had  loosed  Simeon,  and  put  him  into  an  handsome 
habit,  he  suffered  him  to  be  with  his  brethren  ;  at  which 
time  Joseph  came  from  his  attendance  on  the  king.  So  they 
offered  him  their  presents  :  and  upon  his  putting  the  question 
to  them  about  their  father,  they  answered,  that  they  found 
him  well.  He  also,  upon  his  discovery  that  Benjamin  was 
alive,  asked,  whether  this  was  their  younger  brother  ?  for 
he  had  seen  him.  Whereupon  they  said  he  was  :  he  replied, 
that  the  God  over  all  was  his  protector.  But  when  his  affec¬ 
tion  to  him  made  him  shed  tears,  he  retired,  desiring  he  might 
not  be  seen  in  that  plight  by  his  brethren.  Then  Joseph  took 
them  to  supper  ;  and  they  were  set  down  in  the  same  order 
as  they  used  to  sit  at  their  father’s  table.  And  although  Jo¬ 
seph  treated  them  all  kindly,  yet  did  he  send  a  mess  to  Ben¬ 
jamin  that  was  double  to  what  the  rest  of  the  guests  had  for 
their  shares. 

.7-  Now,  when  after  supper  they  had  composed  themselves 
to  sleep,  Joseph  commanded  his  steward  both  to  give  them 
their  measures  of  corn,  and  to  hide  its  price  again  in  their 
sacks  ;  and  that  withal  they  should  put  into  Benjamin’s  sack 
the  golden  cup,  out  of  which  he  himself  loved  to  drink. 


*  Of  the  precious  balsam  of  Judea,  and  the  turpentine,  see  the  note 
On  Antiq  B.  viii.  ch.  vi.  §  6.  vol.  ii. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


149 


Chap.  VI. 

Which  things  he  did  in  order  to  make  trial  of  his  brethren, 
whether  they  would  stand  by  Benjamin  when  he  should  be 
accused  of  having  stolen  the  cup,  and  should  appear  to  be  in 
danger;  or  whether  they  would  leave  him,  and, depending  on 
their  own  innocency,  go  to  their  father  without  him.  When 
the  servant  had  done  as  he  was  bidden,  the  sons  of  Jacob, 
knowing  nothing  of  all  this,  went  their  way,  and  took  Simeon 
along  with  them,  and  had  a  double  cause  of  joy,  both  because 
they  had  received  him  again,  and  because  they  took  back 
Benjamin  to  their  father,  as  they  had  promised.  But  present¬ 
ly  a  troop  of  horsemen  encompassed  them,  and  brought  with 
them  Joseph’s  servant,  who  had  put  the  cup  into  Benjamin’s 
sack.  Upon  which  unexpected  attack  of  the  horsemen,  they 
were  much  disturbed,  and  asked  what  the  reason  was  that 
they  thus  came  upon  men,  who  a  little  before  had  been  b^their 
lord  thought  worthy  of  an  honourable  and  hospitable  recep¬ 
tion  ?  They  replied,  by  calling  them  wicked  wretches,  who 
had  forgot  that  very  hospitable  and  kind  treatment  which  Jo¬ 
seph  had  given  them,  and  did  not  scruple  to  be  injurious  to 
him  ;  and  to  carry  off  that  cup  out  of  which  he  had,  in  so 
friendly  a  manner,  drank  to  them,  not  regarding  their  friend¬ 
ship  with  Joseph,  no  more  than  the  danger  they  should  be  in 
if  they  were  taken,  in  comparison  of  the  unjust  gain.  Here¬ 
upon  he  threatened  that  they  should  be  punished  ;  for  though 
they  had  escaped  the  knowledge  of  him,  who  was  but  a  ser¬ 
vant,  yet  they  had  not  escaped  the  knowledge  of  God,  nov 
had  gone  off  with  what  they  had  stolen  ;  and  after  all,  asked 
why  we  come  upon  them  ?  as  if  they  knew  nothing  of  the 
matter  :  and  he  told  them,  that  they  should  immediately  know 
it  by  their  punishment.  This,  and  more  of  the  same  nature, 
did  the  servant  say,  in  way  of  reproach  to  them  :  but  they  be¬ 
ing  wholly  ignorant  of  any  thing  here  that  concerned  them, 
laughed  at  what  he  said  ;  and  wondered  at  the  abusive  lan¬ 
guage  which  the  servant  gave  them,  when  he  was  so  hardy 
as  to  accuse  those  who  did  not  before  so  much  as  retain  the 
price  of  their  corn,  which  was  found  in  their  sacks,  but 
brought  it  again,  though  nobody  else  knew  of  any  such  thing, 
so  far  were  they  from  offering  any  injury  to  Joseph  voluntari¬ 
ly.  But  still,  supposing  that  a  search  would  be  a  more  sure 
justification  of  themselves  thah  their  own  denial  of  the 
fact,  they  bid  him  search  them,  and  that  if  any  of  them  had 
been  guilty  of  the  theft,  to  punish  them  all ;  for  being  no 
way  conscious  to  themselves  of  any  crime,  they  spake  with 
assurance,  and,  as  they  thought,  without  any  danger  to  them¬ 
selves  also.  The  servants  desired  there  might  be  a  search 
'made  ;  but  they6aick  the  punishment  should  extend  to  him 

W  % 


.150 


ANTIQUITIES  Booh  IT, 

alone  who  should  be  found  guilty  of  the  theft.  So  they  made 
the  search  ;  and  having  searched  all  the  rest,  they  came  last 
of  all  to  Benjamin,  as  knowing  it  was  Benjamin’s  sack  in 
which  they  had  hidden  the  cup,  they  having  indeed  searched 
the  rest  oidy  for  a  show  of  accuracy  ;  so  the  rest  were  out  of 
fear*  for  themselves,  and  were  now  only  concerned  about  Ben¬ 
jamin,  but  still  were  well  assured,  that  he  would  also  be  found 
innocent ;  and  they  reproached  those  that  came  after  them 
for  their  hindering  them,  while  they  might,  in  the  mean  while, 
have  gotten  a  good  way  of  their  journey.  But  as  soon  as 
they  had  searched  Benjamin’s  sack,  they  found  the  cup,  and 
took  it  from  him  ;  and  all  was  changed  to  mourning  and  la¬ 
mentation.  They  rent  their  garments,  and  wept  for  the  pun¬ 
ishment  which  their  brother  was  to  undergo  for  his  theft ;  and 
for  the  delusion  they  had  put  on  their  father,  when  they  pro¬ 
mised  they  would  bring  Benjamin  safe  to  him.  What  added 
to  their  misery  was,  that  this  melancholy  accident  came  unfor¬ 
tunately  at  a  time  when  they  thought  they  had  been  gotten  off 
clear  :  but  they  confessed,  that  this  misfortune  of  their  bro¬ 
ther,  as  well  as  the  grief  of  their  father  for  him,  was  owing  to 
themselves,  since  it  was  they  that  forced  their  father  to  send 
him  with  them,  when  he  was  averse  to  it. 

8.  The  horsemen,  therefore,  took  Benjamin  and  brought 
hjm  to  Joseph,  his  brethren  also  following  him  ;  who,  when 
he  saw  him  in  custody,  and  them  in  the  habit  of  mourners, 
said,  ((  flow  come  you,  vile  wretches  as  you  are,  to  have 
such  a  strange  notion  of  my  kindness  to  you,  and  of  God’s 
providence,  as  impudently  to  do  this  to  your  benefactor,  who, 
in  such  a  hospitable  manner,  had  entertained  you  ?”  Where¬ 
upon  they  gave  up  themselves  to  be  punished,  in  order  to 
save  Benjamin  ;  and  called  to  mind  what  a  wicked  enterprise 
they  had  been  guilty  of  against  Joseph.  They  also  pronoun¬ 
ced  him  more  happy  than  themselves,  if  he  were  dead,  in  be¬ 
ing  freed  from  the  miseries  of  this  life  ;  and,  if  he  were  alive, 
that  he  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  seeing  God’s  vengeance  up¬ 
on  them.  The}'  said  farther,  that  they  were  the  plague  of 
their  father,  since  they  should  now  add  to  his  former  affliction 
for  Joseph,  this  other  affliction  for  Benjamin.  Reubel  also 
was  large  in  cutting  them  upon  this  occasion.  But  Joseph 
dismissed  them,  for  he  said,  they  had  been  guilty  of  no  of¬ 
fence,  and  that  he  would  content  himself  with  the  lad’s  pun¬ 
ishment,  for  he  said,  it  was  not  a  fit  thing  to  let  him  go  free, 
for  the  sake  of  those  who  had  not  offended  ;  nor  was  it  a  fit 
thingto  punish  them  together  with  him,  who  had  been  guilty 
of  stealing.  And  when  he  promised  to  give  them  leave 
to  go  away  in  safety,  the  rest  of  them  were  under  great  con- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


151 


Chap.  VI. 

sternation,  and  were  able  to  say  nothing  on  this  sad  occasion. 
But  Judas,  who  had  persuaded  their  father  to  send  the  lad 
from  him,  being  otherwise  also  a  very  bold  and  active  man, 
determined  to  hazard  himself  for  the  preservation  of  his  bro¬ 
ther.  “  *lt  is  true,  said  he,  O  governor,  that  we  have  been 
very  wicked  with  regard  to  thee,  and  on  that  account  deserve 
punishment ;  even  all  of  us  may  justly  be  punished,  although 
the  theft  were  not  committed  by  all,  but  only  by  one  of  us, 
and  he  the  youngest  also  :  but  yet  there  remains  some  hope 
for  us,  who  otherwise  must  be  under  despair  on  his  account, 
and  this  from  thy  goodness,  which  promises  us  a  deliverance 
out  of  our  present  danger.  And  now,  1  beg  thou  wilt  not 
look  at  us,  or  at  that  great  crime  we  have  been  guilty  of,  but 
at  thy  own  excellent  nature,  and  take  advice  of  thine  own 
virtue,  instead  of  that  wrath  thou  hast  against  us  ;  which 
passion,  those  that  otherwise  are  of  a  low  character  indulge, 
as  the}'  do  their  strength,  and  that  not  only  on  great,  but  al¬ 
so  on  very  trilling  occasions.  Overcome,  Sir,  that  passion, 
and  be  not  subdued  by  it,  nor  suffer  it  to  slay  those  that  do 
not  otherwise  presume  upon  their  own  safety,  but  are  desi¬ 
rous  to  accept  of  it  from  thee  ;  for  this  is  not  the  first  time 
that  thou  wilt  bestow  it  on  us,  but  before,  when  we  came  to 
buy  corn,  thou  affordedst  us  great  plenty  of  food,  and  gavest 
us  leave  to  carry  so  much  home  to  our  family,  as  has  preser¬ 
ved  them  from  perishing  by  famine.  Nor  is  there  any  dif¬ 
ference  between  not  overlooking  men  that  were  perishing  for 
want  of  necessaries,  and  not  punishing  those  that  seem  to  be 
offenders,  and  have  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  lose  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  that  glorious  benefaction,  which  they  received  from 
thee.  This  will  be  an  instance  of  equal  favour,  though  be¬ 
stowed  after  a  different  manner  ;  for  thou  wilt  save  those  this 
way  whom  thou  didst  feed  the  other  ;  and  thou  wilt  hereby 
preserve  alive,  and  by  thy  own  bounty,  those  souls  which  thou 
didst  not  suffer  to  be  distressed  by  famine,  it  being  indeed  at 
once  a  wonderful  and  a  great  thing  to  sustain  our  lives  by 
corn,  and  to  bestow  on  us  that  pardon,  whereby  now  we  arc 
distressed,  we  may  continue  those  lives.  And  I  am  ready  to 
suppose,  that  God  is  willing  to  afford  thee  this  opportunity  of 
showing  thy  virtuous  disposition,  by  bringing  us  into  this  ca- 
lamit},  that  it  may  appear  thou  canst  forgive  the  injuries 

This  oration  seems  to  me  too  large,  and  too  unusual  a  digression, 
to  have  been  composed  by  Judas  on  this  occasion.  It  seems  to  me  a 
speech  or  declamation  composed  formerly,  in  the  person  of  Judas,  and 
in  the  wrny  of  oratory,  that  lay  by  him,  and  which  he  thought  fit  to  insert 
on  this  occasion.  See  two  more  such  speeches  or  declamations,  Antiq, 
B  vi.  ch.  xiv.  §  4.  vol.  ii. 


152 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  IL 


that  are  done  to  thyself ;  and  mayest  be  esteemed  kind  to 
others,  besides  those  who,  on  other  accounts,  stand  in  need  of 
thy  assistance,  since  it  is  indeed  a  right  thing  to  do  well  to 
those  who  are  in  distress  for  want  of  food,  but  still  a  more 
glorious  thing  to  save  those  who  deserve  to  be  punished, 
when  it  is  on  account  of  heinous  offences  against  thyself;  for 
if  it  be  a  thing  deserving  condemnation  to  forgive  such  as 
have  been  guilty  of  small  offences,  that  tend  to  a  person’s 
loss,  and  this  be  praise-worthy  in  him  that  overlooks  such  of¬ 
fences,  to  restrain  a  man’s  passion,  as  to  crimes  which  are 
capital  to  the  guilty,  is  to  be  like  the  most  excellent  nature  of 
God  himself.  And  truly,  as  for  myself,  had  it  not  been  that 
We  had  a  father,  who  had  discovered,  on  occasion  of  the 
death  of  Joseph,  how  miserably  he  is  always  afflicted  at  the 
loss  of  his  sons,  1  had  not  made  any  words  on  account  of  the 
saving  of  our  own  lives  :  I  mean,  any  farther  than  as  that 
would  be  an  excellent  character  for  thyself,  to  preserve  even 
those  that  would  have  nobody  to  lament  them  when  they 
were  dead,  but  we  would  have  yielded  ourselves  up  to  suffer 
whatsoever  thou  pleasedst  :  but  now,  (for  we  do  not  plead 
for  mercy  to  ourselves,  though  indeed,  if  we  die,  it  will  be 
while  we  are  young,  and  before  we  have  had  the  enjoyment 
of  life,  have  regard  to  our  father,  and  take  pity  of  his  old 
age,  on  whose  account  it  is  that  we  make  these  supplications 
to  thee.  We  beg  thou  wilt  give  us  those  lives,  which  this 
wickedness  of  ours  has  rendered  obnoxious  to  thy  punish¬ 
ment  ;  and  this  for  his  sake  who  is  not  himself  wicked,  nor 
does  his  being  our  father  make  us  wicked.  He  is  a  good 
inan,  and  not  worthy  to  have  such  trials  of  his  patience ;  and 
now  we  are  absent,  is  he  afflicted  with  care  for  us.  But  if  he 
hear  of  our  deaths,  and  what  was  the  cause  of  it,  he  will  on 
that  account  die  an  immature  death  :  and  the  reproachful 
manner  of  our  ruin  will  hasten  his  end,  and  will  directly  kill 
him,  nay,  will  bring  him  to  a  miserable  death,  while  he  will 
make  haste  to  rid  himself  out  of  the  world,  and  bring  himself 
to  a  state  of  insensibility,  before  the  sad  story  of  our  end 
come  abroad  into  the  rest  of  the  tvorld.  Consider  things  in 
this  manner,  although  our  wickedness  does  now  provoke  thee 
with  a  just  desire  of  punishing  that  wickedness,  and  forgive 
it  for  our  father’s  sake  ;  and  let  thy  commisseratioh  of  him 
weigh  more  with  thee  than  our  wickedness.  Have  regard  to 
the  old  age  of  our  father,  who,  if  we  perish,  wall  be  very  lone¬ 
ly  while  he  lives,  and  will  soon  die  himself  also.  Grant  this 
boon  to  the  name  of  fathers,  for  thereby  thou  wilt  honour  him 
that  begat  thee,  and  will,  grant  it  to  thyself  also,,  who  enjoyest 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


153 


Chap.  VI. 

already  that  denomination  :  thou  wilt  then,  by  that  denomi¬ 
nation,  be  preserved  of  God,  the  father  of  all,  by  showing  a 
pious  regard  to  which,  in  the  case  of  our  father,  thou  wilt  ap¬ 
pear  to  honour  him  who  is  styled  by  the  same  name  ;  I  mean, 
if  thou  wilt  have  this  pity  on  our  father,  upon  this  considera¬ 
tion,  how  miserable  he  will  be  if  he  be  deprived  of  his  sons. 
It  is  thy  part,  therefore,  to  bestow  on  us  what  God  has  given 
us,  when  it  is  in  thy  power  to  take  it  away,  and  so  to  resemble 
him  entirely  in  charity  ;  for  it  is  good  to  use  that  power  which 
can  either  give  or  take  away,  on  the  merciful  side  ;  and  when 
it  is  in  thy  power  to  destroy,  to  forget  that  thou  ever  hadst 
that  power  ;  and  to  look  on  thyself  as  only  allowed  power 
for  preservation  ;  and  that  the  more  any  one  extends  this 
power,  the  greater  reputation  does  he  gain  to  himself.  Now 
by  forgiving  our  brother  what  he  has  unhappily  committed, 
thou  wilt  preserve  us  all  ;  for  we  cannot  think  of  living  if  he 
be  put  to  death,  since  we  dare  not  show  ourselves  alive  to  our 
father  without  our  brother,  but  here  must  we  partake  of  one 
and  the  same  catastrophe  of  his  life.  And  so  far  we  beg 
of  thee,  O  governor,  that  if  thou  condemnest  our  brother  to 
die,  thou  wilt  punish  us  together  with  1dm,  as  partners  of  the 
crime  ;  for  we  shall  not  think  it  reasonable  to  be  reserved  to 
kill  ourselves  for  grief  of  our  brother’s  death,  but  so  to  die, 
rather  as  equally  guilty  with  him  of  this  crime.  I  will  only 
leave  with  thee  this  one  consideration,  and  then  will  say  no 
more,  viz.  that  our  brother  committed  his  fault  when  he  tvas 
young,  and  not  yet  of  confirmed  wisdom  in  his  conduct,  and 
that  men  naturally  forgive  such  young  persons.  And  I  end 
here  without  adding  what  more  I  have  to  say,  that  in  case 
thou  condemnest  us,  that  omission  may  be  supposed  to  have 
hurt  us,  and  permitted  thee  to  take  the  severer  side.  But  in 
case  thou  settest  us  free,  that  this  may  be  ascribed  to  thy  own 
goodness,  of  which  thou  art  inwardly  conscious,  that  thou 
freest  us  from  condemnation  ;  and  that  not  by  barely  preser¬ 
ving  us,  but  by  granting  us  such  a  favour  as  w  ill  make  us  ap¬ 
pear  more  righteous  than  we  really  are,  and  by  representing 
to  thj'self  more  motives  for  our  deliverance  than  we  are  able 
to  produce  ourselves.  If,  therefore,  thou  resolvest  to  slay  him, 
I  desire  thou  wilt  slay  me  in  bis  stead,  and  send  him  back  to 
his  father ;  or  if  thou  pleasest  to  retain  him  with  thee  as  a 
slave,  I  am  fitter  to  labour  for  thy  advantage  in  that  capacity, 
and  as  thou  seest,  am  better  prepared  for  either  of*  those 
sufferings.”  So  Judas,  being  very  willing  to  undergo  any 

*  In  ali  this  speech  of  Judas  we  may  observe,  that  Josephus  still  sup* 
posed  that  death  U'a9  the  punishment  of  theft  in  Egypt,  in  the  days  of 
Joseph,  though  it  never  was  so  among  the  Jews  by  the  law  of  Moses. 


154 


Boole  Id 


ANTIQUITIES 

thing  whatever  for  the  deliverance  of  his  brother,  cast  himself 
down  at  Joseph’s  feet,  and  earnestly  laboured  to  assuage  and 
pacify  his  anger.  All  his  brethren  also  fell  down  before  him, 
weeping,  and  delivering  themselves  up  to  destruction  for  the 
preservation  of  the  life  of  Benjamin. 

9-  But  Joseph,  as  overcome  now  with  his  affections,  and 
no  longer  able  to  personate  an  angry  man,  commanded  all 
that  were  present  to  depart,  that  he  might  make  himself  known 
to  his  brethren  when  they  were  alone.  And  when  the  rest 
were  gone  out,  he  made  himself  known  to  his  brethren  ;  and 
said,  ic  I  commend  you  for  your  virtue,  and  your  kindness  to 
our  brother  ;  1  find  you  better  men  than  I  could  have  expect¬ 
ed  from  what  you  contrived  about  me.  Indeed,  I  did  all  this 
to  try  your  love  to  your  brother  ;  so  I  believe  you  were  not 
wicked  by  nature,  in  what  you  did  in  my  case,  but  that  all  has 
happened  according  to  God’s  will,  who  has  hereby  procured 
our  enjoyment  of  what  good  things  we  have  ;  and  if  he  con¬ 
tinue  in  a  favourable  disposition,  of  what  we  hope  for  hereaf¬ 
ter.  Since,  therefore,  I  know  that  our  father  is  safe  and  well 
beyond  expectation  ;  and  I  see  you  so  well  disposed  to  your 
brother,  I  will  no  longer  remember  what  guilt  you  seem  to 
have  had  about  me,  but  will  leave  off  to  hate  you  for  that 
your  wickedness,  but  do  rather  return  you  my  thanks,  that 
you  have  concurred  with  the  intentions  of  God  to  bring  things 
to  their  present  state.  I  would  have  you  also  rather  to  forget 
the  same,  since  that  imprudence  of  yours  is  come  to  such  an 
happy  conclusion,  than  to  be  uneasy  and  blush  at  those  vour 
offences.  Do  not,  therefore,  let  your  evil  intentions,  when 
you  condemned  me,  and  that  bitter  remorse  which  might  fol¬ 
low,  be  a  grief  to  you  now,  because  those  intentions  were 
frustrated.  Go,  therefore,  your  way  rejoicing  in  what  has  hap¬ 
pened  by  the  divine  providence,  and  inform  your  father  of  it, 
lest  he  should  be  spent  with  cares  for  you,  and  deprive  me  of 
the  most  agreeable  part  of  my  felicity  ;  I  mean,  lest  he  should 
die  before  he  come  into  my  sight,  and  enjoys  the  good  things 
that  we  now  have.  Bring,  therefore,  with  you  our  father, 
and  your  wives,  and  children,  and  all  your  kindred,  and  re¬ 
move  your  habitation  hither  ;  for  it  is  not  proper  that  the 
persons  dearest  to  me  should  live  remote  from  me,  now  my 
affairs  are  so  prosperous,  especially  when  they  must  endure 
five  more  years  of  famine.  When  Joseph  had  said  this,  he 
embraced  his  brethren,  who  wrere  in  tears  and  sorrow  :  but 
the  generous  kindness  of  their  brother  seemed  to  leave 
among  them  no  room  for  fear,  lest  they  should  be  punished  on 
account  of  what  they  had  consulted  and  acted  against  him. 
And  they  were  then  feasting.  Now  the  king,  as  soon  as  he 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


155 


Chap.  FIT. 

beard  that  Joseph’s  brethren  were  come  to  him,  was  exceed¬ 
ing  glad  of  it,  as  if  it  had  been  a  part  of  his  own  good  for¬ 
tune  ;  and  gave  them  waggons  full  of  corn,  and  gold,  and 
silver,  to  be  conveyed  to  their  father.  Now  when  they  had 
received  more  of  their  brother,  part  to  be  carried  to  their  fa¬ 
ther,  and  part  as  free  gifts  to  every  one  of  themselves,  Benja¬ 
min  having  still  more  than  the  rest,  they  departed. 


CHAP.  VII. 

The  removal  of  Joseph’s  father ,  with  his  family ,  to  him,  Oft 
account  of  the  famine. 

§  1.  As  soon  as  Jacob  came  to  know,  by  his  son’s  return¬ 
ing  home,  in  what  state  Joseph  was,  that  he  had  not  only  es¬ 
caped  death,  for  which  lie  yet  lived  all  along  in  mourning, 
hut  that  he  lived  in  splendour  and  happiness,  and  ruled  over 
Egypt  jointly  with  the  king,  and  had  intrusted  to  his  care  al¬ 
most  all  his  affairs,  he  did  not  think  any  thing  he  was  told  to 
be  incredible,  considering  the  greatness  of  the  works  of  God, 
and  his  kindness  to  him,  although  that  kindness  had,  for  some 
late  times,  been  intermitted,  so  he  immediately  and  zealously 
set  out  upon  his  journey  to  him. 

2.  When  he  came  to  the  well  of  the  oath,  [Beersheba,]  he 
offered  sacrifice  to  God  :  and  being  afraid  that  the  happiness 
there  was  in  Egypt  might  tempt  his  posterity  to  fall  in  love 
with  it,  and  settle  in  it,  and  no  more  think  of  removing  into 
the  land  of  Canaan,  and  possessing  it,  as  God  htffl  promised 
them,  as  also  being  afraid,  lest  if  this  descent  into  Egj'pt  were 
made  without  the  will  of  God,  his  family  might  be  destroyed 
there  :  out  of  fear,  withal,  lest  he  should  depart  this  life  be¬ 
fore  he  came  to  the  sight  of  Joseph,  he  fell  asleep,  revolving 
these  doubts  in  his  mind. 

3.  But  God  stood  by  him,  and  called  to  him  twice,  by  his 
name ;  and  when  he  asked,  who  he  was,  God  said,  “  No!, 
sure,  it  is  not  just  that  thou  Jacob  shouldst  be  unacquainted 
with  that  God  who  has  been  ever  a  protector  and  an  helper 
to  thy  forefathers,  and  after  them  to  thyself :  for  when  thy 
father  would  have  deprived  thee  of  the  dominion,  I  gave  it 
thee  ;  and  by  my  kindness  it  was,  that  when  thou  wast  sent 
into  Mesopotamia  all  alone,  thou  obtainedst  good  wives,  and 
returnedst  with  many  children,  and  much  wealth.  Thy 
whole  family  also  has  been  preserved  by  my  providence  ;  and 
.it  was  1  who  conducted  Joseph  thy  son,  whom  thou  gavest  up 


156 


A1NTIQU1TIES 


Book  If. 


for  lost,  to  the  employment  of  great  prosperity.  I  also  made 
him  lord  of  Egypt,  so  that  he  differs  but  little  from  a  king. 
Accordingly,  I  come  now  as  a  guide  to  thee  in  this  journey  ; 
and  foretell  to  thee  that  thou  shalt  die  in  the  arms  of  Joseph  5 
and  l  inform  thee,  that  thy  posterity  shall  be  many  ages  in  au  ¬ 
thority  and  glory,  and  that  l  will  settle  them  in  the  land 
which  I  have  promised  them.” 

4.  Jacob,  encouraged  by  his  dream,  went  on  more  cheer¬ 
fully  for  Egypt,  with  his  sons,  and  all  belonginglfJo  them. 
Now  they  were  in  all  seventy.  I  once  indeed  thought  it  best 
not  to  set  down  the  names  of  this  family,  especially  because 
of  their  difficult  pronunciation  [by  the  Greeks  ;]  but,  upon, 
the  whole,  I  think  it  necessary  to  mention  those  names,  that 
I  may  disprove  such  as  believe  that  we  came  originally  not  out 
of  Mesopotamia,  but  are  Egyptians.  Now  Jacob  had  twelve 
sons,  of  these  Joseph  was  come  thither  before. 

We  will,  therefore,  set  down  the  names  of  Jacob’s  children, 
and  grand-children.  Reubel  had  four  sons,  Anoch,  Phallu, 
Assaron,  Charmi.  Simeon  had  six,  Jamuel,  Jamin,  Avod, 
Jachin,  Soar,  Saul.  Levi  had  three  sons,  Gersom,  Caath, 
Merari.  Judas  had  three  sons,  Sala,  Phares,  Zerah  ;  and  by 
Phares  two  grand-children,  Esrorn  and  Amur.  Issachar  had 
four  sons,  Thola,  Phua,  Jasub,  Samaron.  Zabulun  had  with 
him  three  sons,  Sarad,  Helon,  Jalel.  So  far  is  the  posterity 
of  Leah  ;  with  whom  went  her  daughter  Dina.  These  are 
thirty-three.  Rachel  had  two  sons,  the  one  of  which,  Joseph, 
had  two  sons  also,  Manasseh  and  Ephraim.  The  other,  Ben¬ 
jamin,  had  ten  sons,  Bolau,  Bacchar,  Asabel,  Geras,  Naaman, 
Jes,  Ros,  Memphis,  Opphis,  Arad.  These  fourteen  added  to 
the  thirty-raree,  before  enumerated,  amount  to  the  number 
forty-seven.  And  this  was  the  legitimate  posterity  of  Jaco^. 
He  had  besides  by  Bilha,  the  handmaid  of  Rachel,  Dan  and 
Napthali,  which  last  had  four  sons  that  followed  him,  Jessel, 
Guni,  Isari,  and  Selim.  Dan  had  an  only  begotten  son  Usi. 
If  these  be  added  to  those  before  mentioned,  they  complete 
the  number  fifty-four.  Gad  and  Aser  were  the  sons  of  Zil- 
pha,  who  was  the  handmaid  of  Leah.  These  had  with  them, 
Gad  seven,  ^aphoniah,  Augis,  Sunis,  Azabon,  Aerin,  Eroed, 
Ariel.  Aser  had  a  daughter,  Sarah,  and  six  male  children, 
whose  names  were  Jomne,  Isus,  Isoui,  Baras,  Abar,  and  Mel- 
chiel.  If  we  add  these,  which  are  sixteen,  to  the  fifty-four, 
the  forementioned  number  [70]  is  completed,*  Jacob  not  be¬ 
ing  himself  included  in  that  number. 

*  All  the  Greek  copies  of  Josephus  have  (he  negative  particle  here 
that  Jacob  himself  was  nol  reckoned  one  of  the  70  souls  that  came  into 
Egypt;  but  the  old  Latin  copies  want  it,  and  directly  assures  us  he  ?r«r* 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


157 


Chap.  VII. 

5.  When  Joseph  understood  that  his  father  was  coming, 
for  Judas  his  brother  was  come  before  him,  and  informed  him 
of  his  approach,  he  went  out  to  meet  him  ;  and  they  met  to¬ 
gether  at  Heroopolis.  But  Jacob  almost  fainted  away  at  this 
great  and  unexpected  joy  ;  however,  Joseph  revived  him, 
being  yet  not  himself  able  to  contain  from  being  affected  in 
the  same  manner,  at  the  pleasure  he  now  had,  yet  was  he  not 
wholly  overcome  with  his  passion,  as  his  father  was.  After 
this,  he  desired  Jacob  to  travel  on  slow!y  ;  but  he  himself 
took  live  of  his  brethren  with  him,  and  made  haste  to  the 
king,  to  tell  him  that  Jacob  and  his  family  were  come,  which 
was  a  joyful  hearing  to  him.  He  also  bid  Joseph  tell  him, 
what  sort  of  life  his  brethren  loved  to  lead,  that  he  might 
give  them  leave  to  follow  the  same  ;  who  told  him,  they 
were  good  shepherds,  and  had  been  used  to  follow  no  other 
employment  but  this  alone.  Whereby  he  provided  for 
them  that  they  should  not  be  separated,  but  live  in  the  same 
place,  and  take  care  of  their  father  ;  as  also  hereby  he  pro¬ 
vided,  that  they  might  be  acceptable  to  the  Egyptians,  by  do¬ 
ing  nothing  that  would  be  common  to  them  with  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  for  the  Egyptians*  are  prohibited  to  meddle  with  the 
feeding  of  sheep. 

6.  When  Jacob  was  come  to  the  king  and  saluted  him,  and 
wished  all  prosperity  to  his  government,  Pharaoh  asked  him, 
how  old  he  now  was  :  upon  whose  answer,  he  was  an  hun¬ 
dred  and  thirty  years  old,  he  admired  Jacob  on  account  of 
the  length  of  his  life.  And  when  he  had  added,  that  still  he 
had  not  lived  so  long  as  bis  forefathers,  he  gave  him  leave  to 
live  with  his  children  in  Heliopolis ;  for  in  that  city  the  king’s 
shepherds  had  their  pasturage. 

7.  However,  the  famine  increased  among  the  Egyptians; 
and  this  heavy  judgment  grew  more  oppressive  to  them,  be¬ 
cause  neither  did  the  river  overflow  the  ground,  for  it  did  not 
raise  to  its  former  height,  nor  did  Godt  send  rain  upon  it : 

one  of  them.  ’  Tis  therefore  hardly  certain  which  of  these  was  Jose¬ 
phus’s  true  reading,  since  the  number  70  is  made  up  without  him,  if  we 
reckon  Leah  for  one;  but  if  she  be  not  reckoned,  Jacob  must  himself 
be  one,  to  complete  the  number. 

*  Josephus  thought  that  the  Egyptians  hated  or  despised  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  a  shepherd  in  the  days  of  Joseph  :  whereas  Bishop  Cumberland 
has  shown,  that  they  rather  hated  such  Phoenician  or  Canaanite  shep¬ 
herds  that  had  long  enslaved  the  Egyptians  of  old  time.  See  his  San- 
choniatho,  p.  361,  372. 

t  Reland  here  puts  the  question,  How  Josephus  could  complain  of 
its  not  raining  in  Egypt  during  this  famine,  while  the  ancients  affirm 
that  it  never  does  naturally  rain  there?  His  answer  is,  That  when  the 
ancients  deny  that  it  rains  in  Egypt,  they  only  mean  the  Upper  Egypt 
above  the  Delta,  which  is  called  Egypt  in  the  strictest  sense;  but  that 

Yot.  t.  O 


158 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  IL 


nor  did  they  indeed  make  the  least  provision  for  themselves3 
so  ignorant  were  they  what  was  to  be  done  ;  but  Joseph  sold 
them  corn  for  their  money.  But  when  their  money  failed 
them,  they  bought  corn  with  their  cattle,  and  their  slaves  ; 
and  if  any  of  them  had  a  small  piece  of  land  they  gave  up 
that  to  purchase  them  food,  by  which  means  the  king  became 
the  owner  of  all  their  substance  ;  and  they  were  removed 
some  to  one  place,  and  some  to  another,  that  so  the  posses¬ 
sion  of  their  country  might  be  firmly  assured  to  the  king  ; 
excepting  the  lands  of  the  priests,  for  their  country  continu¬ 
ed  still  in  their  own  possession.  And  indeed  this  sore  famine 
made  their  minds,  as  well  as  their  bodies,  slaves  ;  and  at 
length  compelled  them  to  procure  a  sufficiency  of  food  by 
such  dishonourable  means.  But  when  this  misery  ceased, 
and  the  river  overflowed  the  ground,  and  the  ground  brought 
forth  its  fruits  plentifully,  Joseph  came  to  every  city,  and 
gathered  the  people,  thereto  belonging,  together,  and  gave 
them  back  entirely  the  land  which,  by  their  own  consent,  the 
king  might  have  possessed  alone,  and  alone  enjoyed  the  fruits 
of  it.  He  also  exhorted  them  to  look  on  it  as  every  one’s 
own  possession  :  and  to  fall  to  their  husbandry  with  cheerful¬ 
ness  ;  and  to  pay  as  a  tribute  to  the  king,  the* *  fifth  part  of 
the  fruits  for  the  land  which  the  king,  when  it  was  his  own, 
restored  to  them.  These  men  rejoiced  upon  their  becoming 
unexpectedly  owners  of  their  lands,  and  diligently  observed 
what  was  enjoined  to  them.  And  by  this  means  Joseph  pro¬ 
cured  to  himself  a  greater  authority  among  the  Egyptians,  and 
'greater  love  to  the  king  from  them.  Now  this  law,  that  they 
should  pay  the  fifth  part  of  their  fruits  as  tribute,  continued 
until  their  latter  kings. 


ciiap.  viii. 

Of  the  death  of  Jacob  and  Joseph. 

§  1.  Now  when  Jacob  had  lived  seventeen  years  in  Egypt, 
he  fell  into  a  disease,  and  died  in  the  presence  of  his  sons  : 

i»  Delta,  [and  by  consequence  in  the  Lower  Egypt  adjoining  to  it,]  it 
did  of  old,  and  still  does  rain  sometimes.  See  the  note,  Antiq.  B.  iii. 
ch.  1.  §  6 

*  Josephus  supposes,  that  Joseph  now  restored  the  Egyptians  their 
lands  again,  upon  the  payment  of  a  fifth  part  as  a  tribute.  It  seems  to  me 
rather  that  the  land  was  now  considered  as  Pharaoh’s  lands, and  this 
fifth  part  as  its  rent,  to  be  paid  by  them,  as  he  was  their  landlord,  and 
they  his  tenants  ;  and  that  the  lands  were  not  properly  restored,  and  this 
fifth  part  reserved  as  tribute  only,  till  the  days  of  Sesostris.  See  Essay 
on  the  Old  Testament,  append,  p.  148,  149. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


159 


Chap.  VIII. 

but  not  till  he  made  his  prayers  for  their  enjoying  prosperi¬ 
ty,  and  till  he  had  told  to  them,  prophetically,  how  every  one 
of  them  was  to  dwell  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  But  this  hap¬ 
pened  many  years  afterward.  He  also  *  enlarged  upon  the 
praises  of  Joseph  ;  how  he  had  not  remembered  the  evil  do¬ 
ings  of  his  brethren  to  their  disadvantage  :  nay,  on  the  con¬ 
trary,  was  kind  to  them,  bestowing  upon  them  so  many  bene- 

ifits,  as  seldom  are  bestowed  on  men’s  own  benefactors.  He 
then  commanded  his  own  sons  that  they  should  admit  Joseph’s 
sons,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  into  their  number,  and  divide 
the  land  of  Canaan  in  common  with  them ;  concerning  whom 
we  shall  treat  hereafter.  However,  he  made  it  his  request, 
that  he  might  be  buried  at  Hebron.  So  he  died  when  he 
had  lived  full  an  hundred  and  fifty  years,  three  only  abated, 
having  not  been  behind  any  of  his  ancestors  in  piety  towards 
God  ;  and  having  such  a  recompense  for  it,  as  it  was  fit  those 
should  have,  who  were  so  good  as  these  were.  But  Joseph, 
by  the  king’s  permission,  carried  his  father’s  dead  body  to 
Hebron  and  there  buried  it,  at  a  great  expense.  Now  his  bre¬ 
thren  were  at  first  unwilling  to  return  hack  with  him,  be¬ 
cause  they  were  afraid,  lest,  now  their  father  was  dead,  he 
should  punish  them  for  their  secret  practices  against  him. 
since  he  was  now  gone,  for  whose  sake  he  had  been  so  gra¬ 
cious  to  them.  But  he  persuaded  them  to  fear  no  harm, 
and  to  entertain  no  suspicions  of  him :  so  he  brought  them 
along  with  him,  and  gave  them  great  possessions,  and  never 
left  off  his  particular  concern  for  them. 

2.  Joseph  also  died  when  he  had  lived  an  hundred  and  ten 
years  ;  having  been  a  man  of  admirable  virtue,  and  conduct¬ 
ing  all  his  affairs  by  the  rules  of  reason  ;  and  used  his  authori¬ 
ty  with  moderation,  which  was  the  cause  of  his  so  great  feli¬ 
city  among  the  Egyptians,  even  when  he  came  from  another 
country,  and  that  in  such  ill  circumstances  also,  as  we  have 
already  described.  At  length  his  brethren  died,  after  they 
had  lived  happily  in  Egypt.  Now  the  posterity  and  sons  of 
these  men  after  some  time  carried  their  bodies,  and  buried 
them  at  Hebron  :  but  as  to  the  bones  of  Joseph,  they  carried 
them  into  the  land  of  Canaan  afterward,  when  the  Hebrews 
went  out  of  Egypt,  for  so  had  Joseph  made  them  promise 
him  upon  oath.  But  what  became  of  every  one  of  these 
tnen,  and  by  what  toils  they  got  the  possession  of  the  land  of  Ca- 

*  As  to  this  encomium  upon  Joseph,  as  preparatory  to  Jacob’s  adopt¬ 
ing  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  into  his  owr.  family,  and  to  lie  admitted  for 
two  tribes,  which  Josephus  here  mentions,  all  our  copies  of  Genesis 
omit  it,  ch.  xlviii. ;  nor  do  we  know  whence  he  took  it,  or  whether  it  be 
not  his  own  embellishment  only. 


160  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  II. 

naan,  shall  be  shown  hereafter,  when  I  have  first  explained 
upon  what  account  it  was  they  left  Egypt. 

CHAP.  IX. 

Concerning  the  afflictions  that  hefell  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt } 
during  *  four  hundred  years. 

§  1.  Now  it  happened  that  the  Egyptians  grew  delicate 
and  lazy,  as  to  pains-taking,  and  gave  themselves  up  to  other 
pleasures,  and  in  particular  to  the  love  of  gain.  They  also 
became  very  ill  affected  towards  the  Hebrews,  as  touched 
with  envy  at  their  prosperity :  for  when  they  saw  how  the 
nation  of  the  Israelites  flourished,  and  were  become  eminent 
already  in  plenty  of  wealth,  which  they  had  acquired  by 
their  virtue,  and  natural  love  of  labour,  they  thought  their 
increase  was  to  their  own  detriment.  And  having,  in  length 
of  time,  forgotten  the  benefits  they  had  received  from  Joseph, 
particularly  the  crown  being  now  come  into  another  family, 
they  became  very  abusive  to  the  Israelites,  and  contrived 
many  ways  of  afflicting  them  ;  for  they  enjoined  them  to  cut 
a  great  number  of  channels  for  the  river,  and  to  build  walls 
for  their  cities,  and  ramparts,  that  they  might  restrain  the  ri¬ 
ver,  and  hinder  its  waters  from  stagnating,  upon  its  running 
over  its  own  banks.  They  set  them  also  to  +  build  pyramids 
and  by  all  ,this  wore  them  out;  and  forced  them  to  learn  all 
sorts  of  mechanieal  arts,  and  to  accustom  themselves  to  hard- 
labour.  And  four  hundred  years  did  they  spend  under  these 
afflictions  :  for  they  strove  one  against  the  other  which  should 
get  the  mastery,  the  Egyptians  desiring  to  destroy  the  Israel¬ 
ites  by  these  labours,  and  the  Israelites  desiring  to  hold  out 
to  the  end  under  them. 

2.  While  the  affairs  of  the  Hebrews  were  in  this  condi¬ 
tion,  there  was  this  occasion  offered  itself  to  the  Egyptians, 
which  made  them  more  solicitous  for  the  extinction  of  out 
nation.  One  of  these  sacred  +  scribes,  who  are  very  saga- 

*  As  to  the  affliction  of  A-biaham's  p  -sterity  for  400  years,  see  Anliq 
B.  i.  ch.  x.  §  3.  And  as  to  what  cities  they  built  in  Egypt  under  Pha¬ 
raoh  Sesostris-  and  of  Pharaoh  Sesostris's  drowning  in  the  Red  Sea ;  see 
Essay  on  the  Old  Test,  append  p.  139 — 162. 

f  Of  this  building  ot  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  by  the  Israelites,  see  Peri- 
zonius  Orig  Aegyptiac  ch.  xxi.  Tis  not  impossible  they  might  build  one 
or  more  of  the  small  ones,  but  the  large  ones  seem  much  later:  only,  if 
they  be  all  built  ofslone,  this  does  not  so  well  agree  with  the  Israelites 
labours,  which  are  said  to  have  been  in  brick,  and  not  in  stone :  as  Mr. 
Sandys  observes  in  his  Travels,  p.  127,  128. 

J  Dr,  Bernard  informs  us  here  that  instead  of  this  single  priest  OX 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


iGl 


Chap.  IX. 


cious  in  foretelling  future  events  truly,  teld  the  king,  that 
about  this  time  there  would  be  a  child  born  to  the  Israelites, 
who,  if  he  were  reared,  would  bring  the  Egyptian  dominion 
low,  and  would  raise  the  Israelites  :  that  he  would  excel  all 
men  in  virtue,  and  obtain  a  glory7  that  would  be  remembered 
through  all  ages.  Which  thing  was  so  feared  by  the  king, 
that,  according  to  this  man’s  opinion,  he  commanded  that  they 
should  cast  every  male  child,  which  was  born  to  the  Israel¬ 
ites,  into  the  river,  and  destroy  it :  that  besides  this,  the* * 
Egyptian  midwives  should  watch  the  labours  of  the  Hebrew 
women,  and  observe  what  is  born,  for  those  were  the  women 
who  were  enjoined  to  do  the  office,  of  midwives  to  them  ;  and 
by  reason  of  their  relation  to  the  king,  would  not  transgress 
his  commands.  He  enjoined  also,  that  if  any  parents  should 
disobey  him,  and  venture  to  spare  theirt  male  children  alive, 
they  and  their  families  should  be  destroyed.  This  was  a  se¬ 
vere  affliction  indeed  to  those  that  suffered  it,  not  only  as  they 
were  deprived  of  their  sons,  and  while  they  were  the  parents 
themselves,  they  were  obliged  to  be  subservient  to  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  their  own  children,  but  as  it  was  to  be  supposed  to 
tend  to  the  extirpation  of  their  nation,  while  upon  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  their  children,  and  their  own  gradual  dissolution,  the 
calamity  would  become  very  hard  and  inconsolable  to  them. 
And  this  was  the  ill  state  they  were  in.  But  no  one  can  be 
too  hard  for  the  purpose  of  God,  though  he  contrive  ten  thou¬ 
sand  subtile  devices  for  that  end :  for  this  child,  whom  the 
sacred  scribe  foretold,  was  brought  up  and  concealed  from 
the  observers  appointed  by  the  king  ;  and  he  that  foretold 
him,  did  not  mistake  in  the  consequences  of  his  preserva- 


prophet  of  the  Egyptians,  witfiout  a  name  in  Josephus,  the  Targurn  of 
Jonathan  names  the  two  most  famous  antagonists  of  Moses,  Jannesand 
Jambres.  Nor  is  it  at  all  unlikely7,  that  it  might  be  one  of  these  who 
foreboded  so  much  misery  to  the  Egyptians,  and  so  much  happiness  to 
the  Israelites  from  the  rearing  of  Moses. 

*  Josephus  is  clear  that  theses  mil  wives  were  Egyptians,  and  not  Is¬ 
raelites,  as  in  our  other  copies;  which  is  very  probable,  it  being  not 
easily  to  be  supposed,  that  Pharaoh  could  trust  tile  Israelite  mid  wives 
to  execute  so  barbarous  a  command  against  their  own  nation.  Consult, 
therefore,  and  correct  hence  our  ordinary  copies,  Exod.  i  15 — 22  And 
indeed,  Josephus  seams  to  have  had  much  completer  copies  of  the  Pen¬ 
tateuch,,  or  other  authentic  records  now  lost,  about  the  birth  and  actions 
of  Moses,  than  either  our  Hebrew,  Samaritan,  or  Greek  Bibles  afford 
us,  which  enabled  him  to  be  so  large  and  particular  about  him. 

I  Of  this  grand-father  of  Sesostris,  Ramestes  the  great,  who  slew  the 
Israelite  infants,  and  of  the  inscription  on  his  obelisk,  containing,  in  my 
opinion,  one  of  the  oldest  records  of  mankind;  see  Essay  on  the  Old 
Test,  append  p.  139,  145,  217 — 220. 


ANTIQUITIES 


162 


Book  II. 


tion,  which  were  brought  to  pass  after  the  manner  follow¬ 
ing. 

3.  A  man,  whose  name  was  Amrara,  one  of  the  nobler  sort 
of  the  Hebrews,  was  afraid  for  his  whole  nation,  lest  it  should 
fail,  by  the  want  of  young  men  to  be  brought  up  hereafter, 
and  w'as  very  uneasy  at.  it,  his  wife  being  then  with  child, 
and  he  knew  not  what  to  do.  Hereupon  he  betook  himself 
to  prayer  to  God  ;  and  entreated  him  to  have  compassion  on 
those  men  who  had  no  ways  transgressed  the  laws  of  his  wor¬ 
ship,  and  to  afford  them  deliverance  from  the  miseries  they  at 
that  time  endured,  and  to  render  abortive  their  enemies’ 
hopes  of  the  destruction  of  their  nation.  Accordingly,  God 
had  mercy  on  him,  and  was  moved  by  his  supplication.  He 
stood  by  him  in  his  sleep,  and  exhorted  him  not  to  despair  of 
his  future  favours.  He  said  farther,  that  he  did  not  forget 
their  piety  towards  him,  and  would  always  reward  them  for  it, 
as  he  had  formerly  granted  his  favour  to  their  forefathers, 
and  made  them  increase  from  a  few  to  so  great  a  multitude. 
He  put  him  in  mind,  that  when  Abraham  was  come  alone  out 
of  Mesopotamia  into  Canaan,  he  had  been  made  happy,  not 
only  in  other  respects,  but  that  when  his  wife  was  at  first  bar¬ 
ren,  she  was  afterwards  by  him  enabled  to  conceive  seed,  and 
bare  him  sons.  That  they  left  to  Ishmael,  and  to  his  posteri¬ 
ty,  the  country  of  Arabia  ;  as  also  to  his  sons  by  Keturah, 
Troglodytis;  and  to  Isaac,  Canaan-  That  by  my  assist¬ 
ance,  said  he,  he  did  great  exploits  in  war,  which,  unless  you 
be  yourselves  impious,  you  must  still  remember.  As  for  Ja¬ 
cob,  he  became  well  known  to  strangers  also,  by  the  great¬ 
ness  of  that  prosperity  in  which  he  lived,  and  left  to  his  sons, 
who  came  into  Egypt  with  no  more  than  seventy  souls, 
while  you  are  now  become  above  six  hundred  thousand. 
Know,  therefore,  that  I  shall  provide  for  you  all  in  common 
what  is  for  your  good,  and  particularly  for  thyself  what  shall 
make  thee  famous;  for  that  child,  out  of  dread  of  whose  na¬ 
tivity  the  Egyptians  had  doomed  the  Israelite  children  to  de¬ 
struction,  shall  be  this  child  of  thine,  and  shall  be  concealed 
from  those  who  watch  to  destroy  him  :  and  when  he  is  brought 
up,  in  a  surprising  way,  he  shall  deliver  the  Hebrew  nation 
from  the  distress  they  are  under  from  the  Egyptians.  His 
memory  shall  be  famous  while  the  world  lasts  ;  and  this  not 
only  among  the  Hebrews,  but  foreigners  also.  All  which 
shall  be  the  effect  of  my  favour  to  thee,  and  to  thy  posterity. 
He  shall  also  have  such  a  brother,  that  he  shall  himself  ob¬ 
tain  my  priesthood,  and  his  posterity  shall  have  it  after  him 
to  the  end  of  the  world. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


GhapylX. 


lG3 


4.  When  the  vision  had  informed  him  of  these  things,  Am- 
ram  awaked,  and  told  it  to  Jochebed,  who  was  his  wife.  And 
now  the  fear  increased  upon  them,  on  account  of  the  predic¬ 
tion  in  Amram’s  dream  ;  for  they  were  under  concern,  not 
only  for  the  child,  but  on  account  of  the  great  happiness  that 
was  to  come  to  him  also.  However,  the  mother’s  labour  was 
such  as  afforded  a  confirmation  to  what  was  foretold  by  God, 
for  it  was  not  known  to  those  that  watched  her,  by  the  easi¬ 
ness  of  her  pains,  and  because  the  throes  of  her  delivery  did 
not  fall  upon  her  with  violence.  And  now  they  nourished 
the  child  at  home  privately  for  three  months  ;  but  after  that 
time,  Amram,  fearing  that  he  should  be  discovered,  and  by 
falling  under  the  king’s  displeasure,  both  he  and  his  child 
should  perish,  and  so  he  should  make  the  promise  of  God  of 
none  effect,  he  determined  rather  to  intrust  the  safety  and  care 
of  the  child  to  God,  than  to  depend  on  his  own  concealment  of 
him,  which  he  looked  upon  as  a  thing  uncertain,  and  whereby 
both  the  child,  so  privately  to  be  nourished,  and  himself, 
should  be  in  imminent  danger  ;  but  he  believed  that  God 
would  some  way  for  certain  procure  the  safety  of  the  child, 
in  order  to  secure  the  truth  of  his  own  predictions.  When 
they  had  thus  determined,  they  made  an  ark  of  bulrushes,  af¬ 
ter  the  manner  of  a  cradle,  and  of  a  bigness  sufficient  for  an 
infant  to  be  laid  in,  without  being  too  much  straitened  :  they 
then  daubed  it  over  with  slime,  which  would  naturally  keep 
out  the  water  from  entering  between  the  bulrushes,  and  put 
the  infant  into  it,  and  setting  it  afloat  upon  the  river,  they  left 
its  preservation  to  God  :  so  the  river  received  the  child,  and 
carried  him  along.  But  Miriam,  the  child’s '•  sister,  passed 
along  upon  the  bank  over  against  him,  as  her  mother  had  bid 
her,  to  see  whither  the  ark  would  be  carried  ;  where  God 
demonstrated,  that  human  wisdom  was  nothing,  but  that  the 
Supreme  Being  is  able  to  do  whatsoever  he  pleases  :  that 
those,  who,  in  order  to  their  own  security,  condemn  others 
to  destruction,  and  use  great  endeavours  about  it,  fail  of  their 
purpose :  but  that  others  are,  in  a  surprising  manner,  pre¬ 
served,  and  obtain  a  prosperous  condition,  almost  from  the 
very  midst  of  their  calamities,  those,  I  mean,  whose  dangers 
arise  by  the  appointment  of  God.  And  indeed  such  a  provi¬ 
dence  was  exercised  in  the  case  of  this  child,  as  showed  the 
power  of  God. 

5.  Thermuthis  was  the  king’s  daughter.  She  w7as  now  di¬ 
verting  herself  by  the  banks  of  the  river  ;  and  seeing  a  cra¬ 
dle  borne  along  by  the  current,  she  sent  some  that  could  swim, 
and  bid  them  bring  the  cradle  to  her.  When  those  that  were 
sent  on  this  errand,  came  to  her  with  the  cradle,  and  she  saw 


164 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  II. 


the  little  child,  she  was  greatly  in  love  with  it,  on  account  of 
its  largeness  and  beauty  ;  for  God  had  taken  such  great  care 
in  the  formation  of  Moses,  that  he  caused  him  to  be  thought 
worthy  of  bringing  up,  and  providing  for,  by  all  those  that 
had  taken  the  most  fatal  resolutions,  on  account  of  their  dread 
of  his  nativity,  for  the  destruction  of  the  rest  of  the  Hebrew 
nation.  Thermuthis  bid  them  bring  her  a  woman  that  might 
afford  her  breast  to  the  child  ;  yet  would  not  the  child  admit 
of  her  breast,  but  turned  away  from  it,  and  did  the  like  to 
many  other  women.  Now  Miriam  was  by  when  this  happen¬ 
ed,  not  to  appear  to  be  there  on  purpose,  but  only  as  staying 
to  see  the  child  ;  and  she  said,  “  It  is  in  vain  that  thou,  O 
queen,  callest  for  these  women  for  the  nourishing  of  the  child, 
who  are  no  way  of  kin  to  it ;  but  still,  if  thou  wilt  order  one 
x  of  the  Hebrew  women  to  be  brought,  perhaps  it  may  admit 
the  breast  of  one  of  its  own  nation.”  Now,  since  she  seem¬ 
ed  to  speak  well,  Thermuthis  desired  her  to  procure  such  an 
one,  and  to  bring  one  of  those  Hebrew  women,  that  gave  suck. 
So  when  she  had  such  authority  given  her,  she  came  back, 
and  brought  the  mother,  Who  was  known  to  nobody  there. 
And  now  the  child  gladly  admitted  the  breast,  and  seemed  to 
stick  close  to  it  ;  and  so  it  was,  that  at  the  queen’s  desire,  the 
nursing  of  the  child  was  entirely  intrusted  to  the  mother. 

6.  Hereupon  it  was  that  Thermuthis  imposed  this  name 
Mouses  upon  him,  from  what  had  happened  when  he  was  put 
into  the  river  ;  for  the  Egyptians  call  water  by  the  name  of 
Mo,  and  such  as  are  saved  out  of  it,  by  the  name  of  Uses  ;  so 
by  putting  these  two  words  together,  they  imposed  this  name 
upon  him.  And  he  was  by  the  confession  of  all,  according 
to  God’s  prediction,  as  well  for  his  greatness  of  mind,  as  for 
his  contempt  of  difficulties,  the  best  of  all  the  Hebrews;  for 
Abraham  was  his  ancestor,  of  the  seventh  generation.  For 
Moses  was  the  son  of  Amram,  who  was  the  son  of  Caath, 
whose  father  Levi  was  the  son  of  Jacob,  who  was  the  son  of 
Isaac,  who  was  the  son  of  Abraham.  Now  Moses’s  under¬ 
standing  became  superior  to  his  age,  nay,  far  beyond  that 
standard  ;  and  when  he  was  taught,  he  discovered  greater 
quickness  of  apprehension  than  was  usual  at  his  age,  and  his 
actions  at  that  time  promised  greater,  when,  he  should  come 
to  the  age  of  a  man.  God  did  also  give  him  that  tallness, 
when  he  was  but  three  years  old,  as  was  wonderful.  And  as 
for  his  beauty,  there  was  nobody  so  impolite,  as  when  they 
saw  Moses,  they  were  not  greatly  surprised  at  the  beauty  of 
bis  countenance  :  nay,  it  happened  frequently,  that  those  that 
met  him,  as  he  was  carried  along  the  road,  were  obliged  to 
turn  again  upon  seeing  the  child  ;  that  they  left  what  they 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


165. 


Chap.  IX. 


were  about,  and  stood  still  a  great  while  to  look  on  him,  for 
the  beauty  of  the  child  was  so  remarkable  and  natural  to  him, 
on  many  accounts,  that  it  detained  the  spectators,  and  made 
them  stay  longer  to  look  upon  him. 

7.  Thermuthis,  therefore,  perceiving  him  to  be  so  remark¬ 
able  a  child,  adopted  him  for  her  son,  having  no  child  of  her 
own.  And  when  one  time  she  had  carried  Moses  to  her  fa¬ 
ther,  she  showed  him  to  him,  and  said,  she  thought  to  make 
him  her  fabler’s  successor,  if  it  should  please  God  she  should 
have  no  legitimate  child  of  her  own  :  and  said  to  him,  u  I 
have  brought  you  up  a  child  who  is  of  a*  divine  form,  and  of 
a  generous  mind  ;  and  as  I  have  received  him  from  the  boun¬ 
ty  of  the  river,  in  a  wonderful  manner,  I  thought  proper  to 
adopt  hint  for  my  son,  and  the  heir  of  thy  kingdom.”  And 
when  she  had  said  this,  she  put  the  infant  into  her  fathers 
hands  :  so  he  took  him  and  hugged  him  close  to  his  breast  5 
and,  on  his  daughter’s  account,  in  a  pleasant  way,  put  his  di¬ 
adem  upon  his  head  ;  but  Moses  threw  it  down  to  the  ground^ 
and  in  a  puerile  mood,  he  wreathed  it  around,  and  trod  upon 
it  with  his  feet,  which  seemed  to  bring  along  with  it  an  evil 
presage  concerning  the  kingdom,  of  Egypt.  But  when  the 
sacred  scribe  saw'  this,  (he  was  the  same  person  who  foretold 
that  his  nativity  would  bring  the  dominion  of  that  kingdom 
low,)  he  made  a  violent  attempt  to  kill  him  ;  and  crying  out 
in  a  frightful  manner,  he  said,  “  This,  O  king  !  this  child  is 
he  of  whom  God  foretold,  that  if  we  kill  him  we  shall  be  in 
no  danger  :  he  himself  affords  an  attestation  to  the  predic¬ 
tion  of  the  same  thing,  by  his  trampling  upon  thy  govern¬ 
ment,  and  treading  upon  thy  diadem.  Take  him,  therefore, 
out  of  the  way,  and  deliver  the  Egyptians  from  the  fear  they 
are  in  about  him  ;  and  deprive  the  Hebrews  of  the  hope  they 
have  of  being  encouraged  by  him.”  But  Thermuthis  preven¬ 
ted  him,  and  snatched  the  child  away.  And  the  king  was 
not  hasty  to  slay  him,  God  himself,  whose  providence  pro¬ 
tected  Moses,  inclining  the  king  to  spare  him.  lie  was, 
therefore,  educated  with. great  care.  So  the  Hebrews  depen¬ 
ded  on  him,  and  were  of  good  hopes  that  great  things  would 
be  done  by  him  ;  but  the  Egyptians  were  suspicious  of  what 
would  follow  such  his  education.  Yet  because,  if  Moses  had 
been  slain,  there  was  no  one,  either  a-kin  or  adopted,  that 
had  any  oracle  on  his  side,  for  pretending  to  the  crown  of 
Egypt,  and  likely  to  be  of  greater  advantage  to  them,  they 
abstained  from  killing  him. 

\X  hai  Josephus  fiere  says  of  the  beauty  of  Moses,  that  lie  was  0/  a  <Ji~ 
Dine  form  is  very  like  what  St.  Stephen  says  of  the  same  beauty,  that 
Jloses  was  beautiful  in  the  sight  of  god.  Acts  vii.  20. 


166 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  II. 


CHAP.  X. 

How  Moses  made  war  with  the  Ethiopians. 

§  1.  Moses,  therefore,  when  he  was  born,  and  brought  up 
in  the  foregoing  manner,  and  came  to  the  age  of  maturity, 
made  his  virtue  manifest  to  the  Egyptians  ;  and  showed,  that 
he  was  born  for  the  bringing  them  down,  and  raising  the  Is¬ 
raelites.  And  the  occasion  he  laid  hold  of  was  this  :  the 
Ethiopians,  who  are  next  neighbours  to  the  Egyptians,  made 
an  inroad  into  their  country,  which  they  seized  upon,  and 
carried  oft’  the  effects  of  the  Egyptians,  who,  in  their  rage, 
fought  against  them,  and  revenged  the  affronts  they  had  re¬ 
ceived  from  them ;  but  being  overcome  in  battle,  some  of 
them  were  slain,  and  the  rest  ran  away  in  a  shameful  manner, 
and  by  that  means  saved  themselves,  whereupon  the  Ethio¬ 
pians  followed  after  them  in  the  pursuit,  and  thinking  that  it 
would  be  a  mark  of  cowardice  if  they  did  not  subdue  all 
Egypt,  they  went  on  to  subdue  the  rest  with  greater  vehe¬ 
mence  ;  and  when  they  had  tasted  the  sweets  of  the  country, 
they  never  left  off  the  prosecution  of  the  war  :  and  as  the 
nearest  parts  had  not  courage  enough  at  first  to  fight  with 
them,  they  proceeded  as  far  as  Memphis,  and  the  sea  itself, 
while  not  one  of  the  cities  were  able  to  oppose  them.  The 
Egyptians,  under  this  sad  oppression,  betook  themselves  to 
their  oracles  and  prophecies  ;  and  when  God  had  given  them 
this  counsel,  to  make  use  of  Moses  the  Hebrew,  and  take  his 
assistance,  the  king  commanded  his  daughter  to  produce  him, 
that  he  might  be  the*  general  of  their  army.  Upon  which, 
when  she  had  made  him  swear  he  would  do  him  no  harm,  she 
delivered  him  to  the  king,  and  supposed  his  assistance  would 
be  of  great  advantage  to  them.  She  withal  reproached  the 
priest,  who,  when  they  had  before  admonished  the  Egypt¬ 
ians  to  kill  him,  was  not  ashamed  now  to  own  their  want  of 
his  help. 

2.  So  Moses,  at  the  persuasion  both  of  Therm uthis,  and 

*  t  his  history  of  Moses,  asgeueral  of  the  Egyptians  against  the  Ethio¬ 
pians,  is  wholly  omitted  in  our  Bibles,  but  is  thus  cited  by  Irenaius,  from 
Josephus,  and  that  soon  after  his  own  age :  “  Josephus  says,  that  when 
Moses  was  nourished  in  the  king’s  place,  he  was  appointed  general  of 
the  army  against  the  Ethiopians,  and  conquered  them,  when  he  married 
that  king’s  daughter,  because,  out  of  her  affection  for  him,  she  delivered 
the  city  up  to  him.”  See  the  Fragments  of  Irenaeus,  ap.  edit.  Grab.p. 
472.  Nor,  perhaps,  did  St.  Stephen  refer  to  any  thing  else,  when  he 
said  of  Moses,  before  be  was  sent  by  God  to  the  Israelites,  that  he  was 
not  only  learned  in  alt  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians,  but  was  also  mighty 
in  words  and  in  deeds.  Acts  vii.  22. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  X. 


1 67 


the  king  himself,  cheerfully  undertook  the  business  ;  and  the 
sacred  scribes  of  both  nations  were  glad  ;  those  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  that  they  should  at  once  overcome  their  enemies  by  his 
valour,  and  that  by  the  same  piece  of  management  Moses 
would  be  slain  ;  but  those  of  the  Hebrews,  that  they  should 
escape  from  the  Egyptians,  because  Moses  was  to  be  their 
general.  But  Moses  prevented  the  enemies,  and  took  and 
led  his  army,  before  those  enemies  were  apprised  of  his  at¬ 
tacking  them  ;  for  he  did  not  march  by  the  river,  but  by  land, 
where  he  gave  a  wonderful  demonstration  of  his  sagacity : 
for  when  the  ground  was  difficult  to  be  passed  over,  because 
of  the  multitude  of  serpents,  which  it  produces  in  vast  num¬ 
bers,  and  indeed  is  singular  in  some  of  those  productions, 
which  other  countries  do  not  breed,  and  yet  such  as  are 
worse  than  others  in  power  and  mischief,  and  an  unusual 
fierceness  of  sight,  some  of  which  ascend  out  of  the  ground 
unseen,  and  also  fly  in  the  air,  and  so  come  upon  men  at  un¬ 
awares,  and  do  them  a  mischief,  Moses  invented  a  wonder¬ 
ful  stratagem  to  preserve  the  army  safe  and  without  hurt  ; 
for  he  made  baskets,  like  unto  arks  of  sedge,  and  filled  them 
with*  ibes,  and  carried  them  along  with  them  ;  which  ani¬ 
mal  is  the  greatest  enemy  to  serpents  imaginable,  for  they  fl)* 
from  them  when  they  come  near  them,  and  as  they  fly  they 
are  caught  and  devoured  by  them,  as  if  it  were  done  by  the 
harts  ;  but  the  ibes  are  tame  creatures,  and  onl}-  enemies  to 
the  serpentine  kind.  But  about  these  ibes  I  say  no  more  at 
present,  since  the  Greeks  are  not  themselves  unacquainted 
with  this  sort  of  bird.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  Moses  was 
come  to  the  land  which  was  the  breeder  of  these  serpents, 
he  let  loose  the  ibes,  and  by  their  means  repelled  the  ser¬ 
pentine  kind,  and  used  them  for  his  assistants  before  the  ar¬ 
my  came  upon  that  ground.  When  he  had  therefore,  pro¬ 
ceeded  thus  on  his  journey  he  came  upon  the  Ethiopians  be¬ 
fore  they  expected  him  ;  and  joining  battle  with  them,  he 
beat  them,  and  deprived  them  of  the  hopes  they  had  of  suc¬ 
cess  against  the  Egyptians,  and  went  on  in  overturning  their 
cities,  and  indeed  made  a  great  slaughter  of  these  Ethiopians. 
Now  when  the  Egyptian  army  had  once  tasted  of  this  pros¬ 
perous  success,  by  the  means  of  Moses,  they  did  not  slacken 
their  diligence,  insomuch,  that  the  Ethiopians  were  in  danger 
of  being  reduced  to  slavery,  and  all  sorts  of  destruction. 
And  at  length  they  retired  to  Saba,  which  was  a  royal  city 

r  Pliny  speaks  of  these  birds  called  Ibes,  and  says,  “  The  Egyptians 
invoked  them  against  the  serpents,”  Hist.  Nat.  B.  s.  c.  28.  Strabo 
speaks  of  this  island  Mcrot,  and  these  rivers  .bslapus,  and  JlstaboTUS , 
Book  xvi.  p.  171,  785,  and  B.  xvii.  p.  82E 


168  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  IT. 

of  Ethiopia,  which  Cambyses  afterwards  named  Meroe.  after 
the  name  of  his  own  sister.  The  place  was  to  be  besieged 
with  very  great  difficulty,  since  it  was  both  encompassed  by 
the  Nile  quite  round,  and  the  other  rivers  Astapus  and  Asta- 
borus  made  it  a  very  difficult  thing  for  such  as  attempted  to 
pass  over  them  ;  for  the  city  was  situate  in  a  retired  place, 
and  was  inhabited  after  the  manner  of  an  island,  being  encom¬ 
passed  with  a  strong  wall,  and  having  the  rivers  to  guard  them 
from  their  enemies,  and  having  great  ramparts  between  the 
wall  and  the  rivers,  insomuch,  that  when  the  waters  came 
with  the  greatest  violence,  it  can  never  be  drowned  ;  which 
ramparts  make  it  next  to  impossible  for  even  such  as  are  got¬ 
ten  over  the  rivers,  to  take  the  city.  However,  while  Moses 
was  uneasy  at  the  army’s  lying  idle,  (for  the  enemies  durst  not 
come  to  a  battle,,  this  accident  happened  :  Tharbis  was  the 
daughter  of  the  king  of  the  Ethiopians  ;  she  happened  to  see 
Moses,  as  he  led  the  army  near  the  walls,  and  fought  with 
great  courage,  and  admiring  the  subtlety  of  his  undertakings, 
and  believing  him  to  be  the  author  of  the  Egyptian  success, 
when  they  had  before  despaired  of  recovering  their  liberty, 
and  to  be  the  occasion  of  the  great  danger  the  Ethiopians 
were  in,  w7hen  they  had  before  boasted  of  their  great  achieve¬ 
ments,  she  fell  deeply  in  love  with  him  ;  and  upon  the  preva¬ 
lency  of  that  passion,  sent  to  him  the  most  faithful  of  all  her 
servants  to  discourse  with  him  upon  their  marriage.  He 
thereupon  accepted  the  offer  on  condition  she  would  pro¬ 
cure  the  delivering  up  of  the  city  ;  and  gave  her  the  assurance 
of  an  oath  to  take  her  to  his  wife,  and  that  when  he  had  once 
taken  possession  of  the  city,  he  would  not  break  his  oath  to 
her.  No  sooner  was  the  agreement  made,  but  it  took  effect 
immediately  ;  and  when  Moses  had  cut  off  the  Ethiopians,  he 
gave  thanks  to  God,  and  consummated  his  mariiage,  and  led 
the  Egyptians  back  to  their  own  land. 


CHAP.  XI. 

How  Moses  jled  out  of  Egypt  into  Midian. 

^  1.  Now  the  Egyptians,  after  they  had  been  preserved 
by  Moses,  entertained  an  hatred  to  him,  and  were  very  eager, 
in  compassing  their  designs  against  him,  as  suspecting  that  he 
would  take  occasion,  from  his  good  success,  to  raise  a  sedi¬ 
tion,  and  bring  innovations  into  Egypt  ;  and  told  the  king  he 
ought  to  be  slain.  The  king  had  also  some  intentions  of  him¬ 
self  to  the  same  purpose,  and  this  as  well  out  of  envy  at  his 
glorious  expedition  at  the  head  of  his  army,  as  out  of  fear  ©f 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  XL 


169 


being  brought  low  by  him  ;  ancl  being  instigated  by  the  sacred 
scribes,  he  was  ready  to  undertake  to  kill  Moses.  But  when 
he  had  learned  beforehand  what  plots  there  were  against  him, 
he  went  away  privately;  and  because  the  public  roads  were 
watched,  he  took  his  flight  through  the  deserts,  and  where  his 
enemies  could  not  suspect  lie  would  travel :  and  though  he 
was  destitute  of  food,  he  went  on,  and  despised  that  difficulty 
courageously.  And  when  he  came  to  the  city  Midian,  which 
lay  upon  the  Red  sea,  and  was  so  denominated  from  one  of 
Abraham's  sons  by  Keturah,  he  sat  upon  a  certain  well,  and 
rested  himself  there  after  his  laborious  journey,  and  the  af¬ 
fliction  he  had  been  in.  It  was  not  far  from  the  city ;  and 
the  time  of  the  day  was  noon,  where  he  had  an  occasion  of¬ 
fered  him,  by  the  custom  of  the  country,  of  doing  what  re¬ 
commended  his  virtue,  and  afforded  him  an  opportunity  of 
bettering  his  circumstances. 

2.  For  that  country  having  but  little  water,  the  shepherds 
used  to  seize  on  the  wells  before  others  came,  lest  their 
flocks  should  want  water :  and  lest  it  should  be  spent  by 
others  before  they  came.  There  were  now  come,  therefore, 
to  this  well,  seven  sisters,  that  were  virgins,  the  daughters  of 
Raguel,  a  priest,  and  one  thought  worthy  by  the  people  of 
the  country  of  great  honour :  these  virgins,  who  took  care 
of  their  father’s  flocks,  which  sort  of  work  it  was  customary, 
and  very  familiar  for  women  to  do  in  the  country  of  the  Tro¬ 
glodytes,  they  came  first  of  all,  and  drew  water  out  of  the 
well  in  a  quantity  sufficient  for  their  flocks,  into  troughs, 
which  were  made  for  the  reception  of  that  water.  But 
when  the  shepherds  came  upon  the  maidens,  and  drove  them 
away,  that  they  might  have  the  command  of  the  waters  them¬ 
selves,  Moses,  thinking  it  would  be  a  terrible  reproach  upon 
him  if  he  overlooked  the  young  women  under  unjust  oppres¬ 
sion,  and  should  suffer  the  violence  of  the  men  to  prevail 
over  the  right  of  the  maidens,  he  drove  away  the  men,  who 
had  a  mind  to  more  than  their  share,  and  afforded  a  proper 
assistance  to  the  women ;  who,  when  they  had  received  such 
a  benefit  from  him,  came  to  their  father,  and  told  him  how 
they  had  been  affronted  by  the  shepherds,  and  assisted  by  a 
stranger,  and  entreated  that  he  would  not  let  this  generous 
action  be  done  in  vain,  nor  go  without  a  reward.  Now  the 
father  took  it  well  from  his  daughters  that  they  were  so  de¬ 
sirous  to  reward  their  benefactor,  and  bid  them  bring  Moses 
into  his  presence,  that  he  might  be  rewarded  as  he  deserved. 
And  when  Moses  came,  he  told  him  what  testimony  his 
daughters  bare  to  him,  that  he  had  assisted  them  ;  and  that, 
as  he  admired  him  for  his  virtue,  he  said,  that  Moses  had 

VOL.  J.  P 


1 70  ANTIQUITIES  Book  II. 

bestowed  such  his  assistance  on  persons  not  insensible  of 
benefits,  but  where  they  were  both  able  and  willing  to  re¬ 
turn  the  kindness,  and  even  to  exceed  the  measure  ol  his 
generosity.  So  he  made  him  his  son,  and  gave  him  one  ot 
his  daughters  in  marriage ;  and  appointed  him,  to  be  the 
guardian  and  superintendant  over  his  cattle,  for  of  old  all 
the  wealth  of  the  barbarians  was  in  those  cattle. 


CHAP.  XII. 

Concerning  the  burning  bush ,  and  the  rod  of  Moses. 

§  1.  Now  Moses,  when  he  had  obtained  the  favour  of  Je¬ 
thro,  for  that  was  one  of  the  names  of  Raguel,  stayed  there, 
and  fed  his  flock;  but  some  time  afterwards,  taking  his  sta¬ 
tion  at  the  mountain  called  Sinai ,  he  drove  his  flocks  thither 
to  feed  them.  Now  this  is  the  highest  of  all  the  mountains 
thereabouts,  and  the  best  for  pasturage,  the  herbage  being 
there  good;  and  it  had  not  been  before  fed  upon,  because  of 
the  opinion  men  had  that  God  dwelt  there,  the  shepherds 
not  daring  to  ascend  up  to  it.  And  here  it  was  that  a  won¬ 
derful  prodigy  happened  to  Moses ;  for  a  fire  fed  upon  a 
thorn-bush;  yet  did  the  green  leaves  and  the  flowers  con¬ 
tinue  untouched,  and  the  fire  did  not  at  all  consume  the  fruit 
branches,  although  the  flame  was  great  and  fierce.  Moses 
was  affrighted  at.  this  strange  sight,  as  it  was  to  him  ;  but  he 
was  still  more  astonished  when  the  fire  uttered  a  voice,  and 
called  to  him  by  name,  and  spake  words  to  him,  by  which 
it  signified  to  him  how  bold  he  had  been,  in  venturing  to  come 
into  a  place  whither  no  man  had  ever  come  before,  because 
the  place  was  divine;  and  advised  him  to  remove  a  great 
way  from  the  flame,  and  to  be  contented  with  what  he  had 
seen;  and  though  he  were  himself  a  good  man,  and  the  off¬ 
spring  of  great  men,  yet  that  he  should  not  pry  any  farther  : 
and  he  foretold  to  him,  that  he  should  have  glory  and  honour 
among  men,  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  him.  He  also  com¬ 
manded  him  to  go  away  thence  with  confidence  to  Egypt,  in 
order  to  his  being  the  commander  and  conductor  of  the  body 
of  the  Hebrews,  and  to  his  delivering  his  own  people  from 
the  injuries  they  suffered  there  ;  u  For,”  said  God,  “  they  shall 
inhabit  this  happy  land  which  your  forefather  Abraham  in¬ 
habited,  and  shall  have  the  enjoyment  of  all  sorts  of  good 
things  ;  and  thou,  by  thy  prudence,  shalt  guide  them  to  those 
good  things.”  But  still  he  enjoined  him,  when  he  had 
brough*  the  Hebrews  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  to  come  to 
that  place,  and  to  offer  sacrifices  of  thanksgiving  there* 


Oiap.'xiL  OF  THE  JEWS.  l7i 

Such  were  the  divine  oracles  which  were  delivered  out  of  the 
fire. 

2.  But  Moses  was  astonished  at  what  he  saw,  and  much 
more  of  what  he  heard  :  and  he  said,  “  I  think  it  would  be 
an  instance  of  two  great  madness,  O  Lord,  for  one  of  that  re¬ 
gard  I  bear  to  thee,  to  distrust  thy  power,  since  I  myself  adore 
it,  and  know  that  it  has  been  made  manifest  to  my  progeni¬ 
tors  ;  but  I  am  still  in  doubt  how  I,  who  am  a  private  man, 
and  one  of  no  abilities,  should  either  persuade  my  own  coun¬ 
trymen  to  leave  the  country  they  now  inhabit,  and  to  follow 
me  to  a  land  whither  I  lead  them  ;  or,  if  they  should  be  per¬ 
suaded,  how  can  I  force  Pharaoh  to  permit  them  to  depart, 
since  they  augment  their  own  wealth  and  prosperity  by  the 
labours  and  works  they  put  upon  them.” 

3.  But  God  persuaded  him  to  be  courageous  on  all  occa¬ 
sions,  and  promised  to  be  with  him,  and  to  assist  him  in  his 
words,  when  he  was  to  persuade  men,  and  in  his  deeds,  when 
he  was  to  perform  wonders.  He  bid  him  also  to  take  a  sig¬ 
nal  of  the  truth  of  what  he  said,  by  throwing  his  rod  upon 
the  ground  ;  which,  when  he  dad  done,  it  crept  along,  and 
was  become  a  serpent,  and  rolled  itself  round  in  its  folds,  and 
erected  its  head,  as  ready  to  revenge  itself  on  such  as  should 
assault  it,  after  which  it  became  a  rod  again  as  it  was  before. 
After  this,  God  bid  Moses  to  put  his  right  hand  into  his  bosom  j 
he  obeyed,  and  when  he  took  it  out  it  was  white,  and  in  colour 
like  to  chalk,  but  afterward  it  returned  to  its  wonted  colour 
again.  He  also,  upon  God’s  command,  took  some  of  the 
water  that  was  near  him,  and  poured  it  upon  the  ground,  and 
saw  the  colour  was  that  of  blood.  Upon  the  wonder  that 
Moses  showed  at  these  signs,  God  exhorted  him  to  be  of  good 
courage,  and  to  be  assured  that  he  would  be  the  greatest  sup¬ 
port  to  him  ;  and  bid  him  make  use  of  those  signs  in  order 
to  obtain  belief  among  all  men,  that  thou  art  sent  by  me,  and 
dost  all  things  according  to  my  commands.  Accordingly  I 
enjoin  thee  to  make  no  more  delays,  but  to  make  haste  to 
Egypt,  and  to  travel  night  and  day,  and  not  to  draw  out  the 

„  time,  and  so  make  the  slavery  of  the  Hebrews  and  their  suf¬ 
ferings  to  last  the  longer. 

4.  Moses  having  now  seen  and  heard  these  w'onders,  that 
assured  him  of  the  truth  of  these  promises  of  God,  had  no 
room  left  him  to  disbelieve  them,  he  entreated  him  to  grant 
him  that  power  when  he  should  be  in  Egypt ;  and  besought 
him  to  vouchsafe  him  the  knowledge  of  his  own  name,  and 
since  he  had  heard  and  seen  him,  that  he  would  also  tell  him 
his  name,  that  when  he  offered  sacrifice  he  might  invoke  him 
by  such  his  name  in  his  oblations.  Whereupon  God  declar- 


1T2  ANTIQUITIES  Book  U. 

ed  to  him  his  holy  name,  which  had  never  been  discovered  to 
men  before  ;  concerning  which  it  is*  not  lawful  for  me  to  say 
any  more.  Now  these  signs  accompanied  Moses,  not  then 
only,  but  always  when  he  prayed  for  them  :  of  all  which 
signs  he  attributed  the  firmest  assent  to  the  fire  in  the  bush  j 
mid  believing  that  God  would  be  a  gracious  supporter  to  him, 
he  hoped  he  should  be  able  to  deliver  his  own  nation,  and  bring 
Calamities  on  the  Egytians. 


CHAP.  XIII. 

(low  Moses  and  Aaron  returned  into  Egypt  to  Pharaoh. 

§  1.  So  Moses,  when  he  understood  that  the  Pharaoh,  in 
whose  reign  he  fled  away,  was  dead,  asked  leave  of  Raguel 
to  go  to  Egypt,  for  the  benefit  of  his  own  people  ;  and  lie 
took  with  him  Zipporah,  the  daughter  of  Raguel,  whom  he 
had  married,  and  the  children  he  had  by  her,  Gersom,  and 
Eleazer,  and  made  haste  into  Egypt.  Now  the  former  of 
those  names,  Gersom,  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  signifies,  that 
he  was  in  a  strange  land  ;  and  Eleazer,  that  by  the  assist¬ 
ance  of  the  God  of  his  fathers ,  he  had  escaped  from  the 
Egyptians.  Now  when  they  were  near  the  borders,  Aaron, 
his  brother,  by  the  command  of  God,  met  him,  to  whom  he 
declared  what  had  befallen  him  at  the  mountain,  and  the 
commands  that  God  had  given  him.  Cut  as  they  were  going 
forward,  the  chief  men  among  the  Hebrews  having  learned 
that  they7  were  coming,  met  them  ;  to  whom  Moses  declared 
the  signs  he  had  seen  ;  and  while  they  could  not  believe  them, 
he  made  them  see  them.  So  they  took  courage  at  these  sur¬ 
prising  and  unexpected  sights,  and  hoped  well  of  their  entire 
deliverance,  as  believing  now7  that  God  took  care  of  their 
preservation. 

2.  Since  then,  Moses  found  that  the  Hebrews  wrould  be  obe¬ 
dient  to  whatsoever  he  should  direct,  as  they  promised  to  be, 

■  This  superstitious  i  car  of  discovering  the  name  icilh  four  letters,  which 
of  late  we  have  been  used  falsely  to  pronounce  Jehovah,  hut  seems  to 
have  been  originally  pronounced  Jahoh,  or  Juo,  is  never,  I  thiuk,  heard 
of  till  this  passage  of  Josephus;  and  this  superstition,  in  not  pronoun’ 
eing  that  name,  has  continued  among  the  Rabbinical  Jews  to  this  day, 
('though  whether  the  Samaritans  and  Caraites  observed  it  so  early  does 
wot  appear,)  Josephus  also  durst  not  set  down  the  very  words’  of  the 
ten  commandments,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  Antiq.  B  iii.  ch.  v.  §  4, 
which  superstitious  silence  has  yet  not  been  continued  even  by  the  Rab¬ 
bins  It  is  however  no  doubt,  but  both  lliese  cautious  concealments 
were  taught  Josephus  by  the  Pharisees,  a  body  of  men  at  once  very 
wicked,  and  very  superstitious. 


6hap.  XIII. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


ITS 


and  were  in  love  with  liberty,  he  came  to  the  king,  who  had 
indeed  but  lately  received  the  government,  and  told  him  how 
much  he  had  done  for  the  good  of  the  Egyptians,  when  they 
were  despised  by  the  Ethiopians,  and  their  country  laid 
waste  by  them ;  and  how  he  had  been  the  commander  ol  their 
forces,  and  had  laboured  for  them,  as  if  they  had  been  his 
own  people  ;  and  he  informed  him  in  what  danger  he  had 
been  during  that  expedition,  without  having  any  proper  re¬ 
turns  made  him,  as  he  had  deserved.  He  also  informed  him 
distinctly,  what  things  happened  to  him  at  Mount  Sinai  ;  and 
what  God  said  to  him  :  and  the  signs  that  were  done  by  God, 
in  order  to  assure  him  of  the  authority  of  those  commands 
which  he  had  given  him.  He  also  exhorted  him  not  to  dis¬ 
believe  what  he  told  him,  nor  to  oppose  the  will  of  God. 

3.  But  when  the  king  derided  Moses,  he  made  him  in  ear¬ 
nest  see  the  signs  that  were  done  at  Mount  Sinai.  Yet  was 
the  king  very  angry  with  him,  and  called  him  an  ill  man,  who 
had  formerly  ran  away  from  his  Egyptian  slavery,  and  came 
now  with  deceitful  tricks,  and  wonders,  and  magical  arts 
to  astonish  him.  And  when  he  had  said  this,  he  com¬ 
manded  the  priests  to  let  him  see  the  same  wonderful 
sights,  as  knowing  that  the  Egyptians  were  skilful  in  this  kind 
of  learning,  and  that  he  was  not  the  only  person  who  knew 
them,  and  pretended  them  to  be  divine  ;  as  also  he  told  him, 
that  when  he  brought  such  wonderful  sights  before  him,  he 
would  only  be  believed  by  the  unlearned.  Now  when  the 
priests  threw  down  their  rods,  they  became  serpents.  But 
Moses  was  not  daunted  at  it  ;  and  said,  “  O  king,  1  do  not 
myself  despise  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians,  but  I  say,  that 
what  I  do  is  so  much  superior  to  what  these  do  by  magic 
arts  and  tricks,  as  divine  power  exceeds  the  power  of  man  ; 
but  I  will  demonstrate,  that  what  I  do  is  not  done  by  craft, 
or  counterfeiting  what  is  not  really  true,  but  that  they  ap¬ 
pear  by  the  providence  and  power  of  God.”  And  when  he 
had  said  this,  he  cast  his  rod  dowm  upon  the  ground,  and  com¬ 
manded  it  to  turn  itself  into  a  serpent.  It  obeyed  him,  and 
went  all  round,  and  devoured  the  rods  of  the  Egyptians, 
which  seemed  to  be  dragons,  until  it  had  consumed  them  all ; 
it  then  returned  to  its  own  form,  and  Moses  took  it  into  his 
hand  again. 

4.  However,  the  king  was  no  more  moved,  when  this  was 
done,  than  before  ;  and  being  very  angry,  he  said,  “  That 
lie  should  gain  nothing  by  this  his  cunning  and  shrewdness 
against  the  Egyptians.”  And  he  commanded  him  that  was 
the  chief  task-master  over  the  Hebrews,  to  give  them  no  re¬ 
laxation  from  their  labours,  but  to  compel  them  to  submit  to 

P  € 


174  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  ll 

greater  oppression  than  before.  And  though  he  allowed 
them  chaff  before  for  the  making  their  bricks,  he  would 
allow  it  them  no  longer;  but  he  made  them  to  work  hard  at 
brick-making  in  the  day  time,  and  to  gather  chaff  in  the  night. 
Now  when  their  labour  was  thus  doubled  upon  them,  they 
laid  the  blame  upon  Moses,  because  their  labour  and  their 
misery  were  on  his  account  become  more  severe  to  them.. 
Tut  Moses  did  not  let  his  courage  sink  for  the  king’s  threat- 
enings  ;  nor  did  he  abate  of  his  zeal  on  account  of  the  He¬ 
brews’  complaints,  but  he  supported  himself,  and  set  his  soul 
resolutely  against  them  both,  and  used  his  own  utmost  dili¬ 
gence  to  procure  liberty  to  his  countrymen.  So  he  went  to 
the  king,  and  persuaded  him  to  let  the  Hebrews  go  to  Mount 
Sinai,  and  there  to  sacrifice  to  God,  because  God  had  enjoin¬ 
ed  them  so  to  do.  He  persuaded  him  also,  not  to  counter¬ 
work  the  designs  of  God,  but  to  esteem  his  favour  above  all 
filings,  and  to  permit  them  to  depart,  lest,  before  he  be  aware, 
he  lay  an  obstruction  in  the  way  of  the  divine  commands, 
and  so  occasion  his  own  suffering  such  punishments  as  it  was 
probable  any  one  that  counter-worked  the  divine  commands 
should  undergo,  since  the  severest  afilictions  arise  from  every 
object  to  those  that  provoke  the  divine  wrath  against  them  ; 
for  such  as  these  have  neither  the  earth  nor  the  air  for  their 
friends;  nor  are  the  fruits  of  the  womb  according  to  nature, 
but  every  thing  is  unfriendly  and  adverse  towards  them.  He 
said  farther,  that  the  Egyptians  should  know  this  by  sad  ex¬ 
perience  ;  and  that  besides,  the  Hebrew7  people  should  go 
out  of  their  country  without  their  consent. 


CHAP.  XIV. 

Concerning  the  ten  plagues  ichich  came  upon  the  Egyptians > 

§  1.  But  when  the  king  despised  the  words  of  Moses,  and 
had  no  regard  at  all  to  them,  grievous  plagues  siezed  the 
Egyptians,  every  one  of  which  I  will  describe,  both  because 
no  such  plagues  did  ever  happen  to  any  other  nation  as  the 
Egyptians  now7  felt ;  and  because  I  w'ould  demonstrate  that 
Moses  did  not  fail  in  any  one  thing  that  he  foretold  them, 
and  because  it  is  for  the  good  of  mankind,  that  they  may 
learn  this  caution,  not  to  do  any  thing  that  may  displease 
God,  lest  he  be  provoked  to  wrath,  and  avenge  their  iniqui¬ 
ties  upon  men.  The  Egyptian  river  ran  with  bloody  water, 
at  the  command  of  God,  insomuch  that  it  could  not  be  drunk, 
and  they  had  no  other  spring  of  water  neither  ;  for  the  wa¬ 
ter  wras  not  only  of  the  colour  of  blood,  but  it  brought  upon 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Ghap.  XIV. 


175 


those  that  ventured  to  drink  of  it  great  pains,  and  bitter  tor¬ 
ment.  Such  was  the  river  to  the  Egyptians  :  but  it  was 
sweet  and  fit  for  drinking  to  the  Hebrews,  and  no  way  differ¬ 
ent  from  what  it  naturally  used  to  be.  As  the  king,  therefore, 
knew  not  what  to  do  in  these  surprising  circumstances,  and 
was  in  fear  for  the  Egyptians,  he  gave  the  Hebrews  leave  to 
go  away  ;  but  when  the  plague  ceased,  he  changed  his  mind 
again,  and  would  not  suffer  them  to  go. 

2.  But  when  God  saw  that  he  was  ungrateful,  and  upon 
the  ceasing  of  the  calamity  would  not  grow  wiser,  he  sent 
another  plague  upon  the  Egyptians;  an  innumerable  multi¬ 
tude  of  frogs  consumed  the  fruits  of  the  ground  ;  the  river 
also  was  full  of  them,  insomuch  that  those,  who  drew  water 
had  it  spoiled  by  the  blood  of  these  animals,  as  they  died  in, 
and  were  destroyed  by,  the  water  ;  and  the  country  was  full 
of  filthy  slime,  as  they  were  born,  and  as  they  died  :  they 
also  spoiled  their  vessels  in  their  houses  which  they  used,  and 
came  in  great  numbers  upon  their  beds.  There  was  also  an 
ungrateful  smell  and  stink  arose  from  them  as  they  were 
born,  and  as  they  died  therein.  Now,  when  the  Egyptians 
were  under  the  oppression  of  these  miseries,  the  king  order¬ 
ed  Moses  to  take  the  Hebrews  with  him,  and  be  gone.  Upon 
which  the  whole  multitude  of  the  frogs  vanished  away;  and 
both  the  land  and  the  river  returned  to  their  former  natures. 
But  as  soon  as  Pharaoh  saw  the  land  freed  from  this  plague, 
he  forgot  the  cause  of  it,  and  retained  the  Hebrews  :  and,* 
as  though  he  had  a  mind  to  try  the  nature  of  more  such  judg¬ 
ments,  he  would  not  yet  suffer  Moses  and  his  people  to  de¬ 
part,  having  granted  that  liberty  rather  out  of  fear,  than  out 
of  any  good  consideration. 

3.  Accordingly,  God  punished  his  falseness  with  another 
plague,  added  to  the  former,  for  there  arose  out  of  the  bo- 
•dies  of  the  Egyptians,  an  innumerable  quantity  of  lice,  by 
which,  wicked  as  they  were,  they  miserably  perished,  as  not 
able  to  destroy7  this  sort  of  vermin,  either  with  washes  or  with 
ointments.  At  which  terrible  judgment,  the  king  of  Egypt 
was  in  disorder,  upon  the  fear  into  which  he  reasoned  him¬ 
self,  lest  his  people  should  be  destroyed,  and  that  the  manner 
of  this  death  was  also  reproachful,  so  that  he  was  forced  in 
part  to  recover  himself  from  his  wicked  temper  to  a  sounder 
mind,  for  he  gave  leave  for  the  Hebrews  themselves  to  depart. 
But  when  the  plague  thereupon  ceased,  he  thought  it  proper 

*  Ol  this  judicial  hardening  the  hearts,  and  blinding  the  eyes  of  wick¬ 
ed  men.  or  infatuating  them,  as  a  just  punishment  for  their  other  wilful 
sin,  to  their  own  destruction,  see  the  note  on  Antic.  B.  vii.  ch.  is.  $  6, 

-vol.ii. 


ANTIQUITIES 


176 


Book  II 


to  require,  that  they  should  leave  their  children  and  wives 
behind  them,  as  pledges  of  their  return  ;  whereby  he  pro¬ 
voked  God  to  be  more  vehemently  angry  at  him,  as  if  he 
thought  to  impose  on  his  providence,  and  as  if  it'  were  only 
Moses,  and  not  God,  who  punished  the  Egyptians  for  the 
sake  of  the  Hebrews  :  for  he  filled  that  country  full  of  various 
sorts  of  pestilential  creatures,  with  their  various  properties, 
such  indeed  as  had  never  come  into  the  sight  of  men  before, 
by  whose  means  the  men  perished  themselves,  and  the  land 
was  destitute  of  husbandmen  for  its  cultivation  ;  but  if  any 
thing  escaped  destruction  from  them,  it  was  killed  by  a  dis¬ 
temper,  which  the  men  underwent  also. 

4.  But  when  Pharaoh  did  not  even  then  yield  to  the  will 
of  God;  but  while  he  gave  leave  to  the  husbands  to  take 
their  wives  with  them,  yet  insisted  that  the  children  should 
be  left  behind,  God  presently  resolved  to  punish  his  wicked¬ 
ness  with  several  sorts  of  calamities,  and  those  worse  than  the 
foregoing,  which  yet  had  so  generally  afflicted  them  :  for 
their  bodies  had  terrible  boils,  breaking  forth  with  blains, 
while  they  were  already  inwardly  consumed  :  and  a  great 
part  of  the  Egyptians  perished  in  this  manner.  But  when 
the  king  was  not  brought  to  reason  by  this  plague,  hail  was 
sent  down  from  heaven  ;  and  such  hail  it  was,  as  the  climate 
of  Egypt  had  never  suffered  before,  nor  was  it  like  to  that 
which  falls  in  other  climates  in  the*'  winter  time,  but  larger 
than  that  which  falls  in  the  middle  of  spring  to  those  that  dwell 
in  the  northern  and  north-western  regions.  This  hail  broke 
down  their  boughs  loaded  with  fruit.  After  this,  a  tribe  of 
locusts  consumed  the  seed  which  was  not  hurt  by  the  hail,  so 
that  to  the  Egyptians  all  the  hopes  of  future  fruits  of  the 
ground  were  entirely  lost. 

5.  One  would  think  the  foremcntioned  calamities  might 
have  been  sufficient  for  one  that  was  only  foolish  without  wick¬ 
edness,  to  make  him  wise,  and  to  make  him  sensible  what  was 
for  his  advantage.  But  Pharaoh.,  led  not  so  much  by  his  foF- 
ly,  as  by  his  wickedness,  even  when  he  saw  the  cause  of  his 
miseries,  he  still  contested  with  God,  and  wilfully  deserted 
the  cause  of  virtue  :  so  he  bid  Moses  take  the  Hebrews  away, 
with  their  wives  and  children,  but  to  leave  their  cattle  behind, 
since  their  own  cattle  were  destroyed.  But  when  Moses  said,, 
that  what  he  desired  was  unjust,  since  they  were  obliged  to 
offer  sacrifice  to  God  of  those  cattle  :  and  the  time  being  pro¬ 
longed  on  this  account,  a  thick  darkness,  without  the  least 

*  As  to  this  winter  or  spring  hail  near  Egypt  and  Judea,  see  the  like 
on  thunder  and  lightning  there,,  in  the  note  on  Antiq.  13.  vi.  ch.  v.  §  <> 
vcl.  ii. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


17? 


Chap.  XIV. 

light,  spread  itself  over  the  Egyptians,  whereby  their  sight 
being  obstructed,  and  their  breathing  hindered  by  the  thick¬ 
ness  of  the  air,  they  died  miserably,  and  under  a  terror  lest 
they  should  be  swallowed  up  by  the  dark  cloud.  Besides 
this,  when  the  darkness,  after  three  days,  and  as  many  nights 
was  dissipated,  and  when  Pharaoh  did  not  still  repent,  and 
let  the  Hebrews  go,  Moses  came  to  him,  and  said,  “  How 
long  wilt  thou  be  disobedient  to  the  command  of  God  ?  for  he 
enjoins  thee  to  let  the  Hebrews  go;  nor  is  there  any  other 
way  of  being  freed  from  the  calamities  you  are  under,  unless 
you  do  so.’7  But  the  king  was  angry  at  what  he  said,  and 
threatened  to  cut  off  his  head,  if  he  came  any  more  to  trouble 
him  about  these  matters.  Hereupon  Moses  said,  he  would 
not  speak  to  him  any  more  about  them,  for  that  he  himself, 
together  with  the  principal  men  among  the  Egyptians,  should 
desire  the  Hebrews  to  go  away.  So  when  Moses  had  said 
this,  he  went  his  way. 

6.  But  when  God  had  signified,  that  with  one  more  plague 
he  would  compel  the  Egyptians  to  let  the  Hebrews  go,  he 
commanded  Moses  to  tell  the  people,  that  they  should  have  a 
sacrifice  ready,  and  that  they  should  prepare  themselves  on 
the  tenth  day  of  the  month  Xanthicus,  against  the  fourteenth, 
(which  month  is  called  by  the  Egyptians  Pkarmuthi,  and  Ni- 
san  by  the  Hebrews  ;  but  the  Macedonians  call  it  Xanthicus ) 
and  that  he  should  carry  away  the  Hebrews  with  all  they 
had.  Accordingly,  he  having  got  the  Hebrews  ready  for 
their  departure,  and  having  sorted  the  people  into  tribes,  he 
kept  them  together  in  one  place :  but  when  the  fourteenth 
day  was  come,  and  all  were  ready  to  depart,  they  offeied  the 
sacrifice,  and  purified  their  houses  with  the  blood,  using 
bunches  of  hyssop  for  that  purpose  ;  and  when  they  had  sup¬ 
ped,  they  burnt  the  remainder  of  the  flesh,  as  just  ready  to 
depart.  Whence  it  is,  that  we  do  still  offer  this  sacrifice,  in 
like  manner,  to  this  day,  and  call  this  festival  Pascha,  which 
signifies  the  feast  of  the  passover,  because  on  that  day  God 
passed  us  over,  and  sent  the  plague  upon  the  Egyptians  :  for 
the  destruction  of  the  first-born  came  upon  the  Egyptians  that 
night,  so  that  many  of  the  Egyptians,  which  lived  near  the 
king’s  palace,  persuaded  Pharaoh  to  let  the  Hebrews  go.  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  he  called  for  Moses,  and  bid  them  be  gone,  as  sup¬ 
posing,  that  if  once  the  Hebrews  were  gone  out  of  the  coun¬ 
try,  Egypt  should  be  freed  from  its  miseries.  They  also  ho¬ 
noured  the  Hebrews  with  *gifts  ;  some  in  order  to  get  them 

*  These  large  presents  made  to  the  Israelites,  of  vessels  of  silver .  and 
|  vessels  of  gold,  and  raiment,  were,  as  Josephus  truly  calls  iliem,  gifts 
really  given  them,  not  lent  them,  as  our  English  falsely  renders  them. 


ANTIQUITIES 


iTQ 


Book  1L 


to  depart  quickly,  and  others  on  account  of  their  neighbour¬ 
hood,  and  the  friendship  they  had  with  them. 

CHAP.  XV. 

Mow  the  Hebrews,  under  the  conduct  of  Moses,  left  Egypt . 

§  1.  So  the  Hebrews  went  out  of  Egypt,  while  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  wept  and  repented  that  they  had  treated  them  so  hard¬ 
ly.  Now  they  took  their  journey  by  Letopolis,  a  place  at 
that  time  deserted,  but  where  Babylon  was  built  afterwards, 
when  Cambvses  laid  Egypt  waste ;  but  as  they  went  away 
hastily,  on  the  third  day  they  came  to  a  place  called  Baalze - 
phon,  on  the  Red  Sea  $  and  when  they  had  no  food  out  of  the 
land,  because  it  was  a  desert,  they  eat  of  loaves,  kneaded  of 
flour,  only  warmed  by  a  gentle  heat ;  and  this  food  they 
made  use  of  for  thirty  days ;  for  what  they  brought  with 
them  out  of  Egypt  would  not  suffice  them  any  longer  time: 
and  this  only  while  they  dispensed  it  to  each  person,  to  use 
so  much  only  as  would  serve  for  necessity,  but  not  for  satiety. 
Whence  it  is,  that,  in  memory  of  the  want  we  were  then  in, 
Nwe  keep  a  feast  of  eight  days,  which  is  called  the  feast  of 
unleavened  bread.  Now  the  entire  multitude  of  those  that 
went  out,  including  the  women  and  children,  was  not  easy  to 
be  numbered  ;  but  those  that  were  of  an  age  fit  for  war,  were 
six  hundred  thousand. 

2.  They  left  Egypt  in  the  month  Xanthicus,  on  the  fif¬ 
teenth  day  of  the  lunar  month  ;  four  hundred  and  thirty 
years  after  our  forefather  Abraham  came  into  Canaan,  but* * 
two  hundred  and  fifteen  years  only  after  Jacob  removed  into 


They  were  spoils  required,  not  borrowed  of  them  Gen  x\.14  Ex<>d.  iii. 
22.  xi.  2.  P-al.  cv  37  as  the  same  version  falsely  renders  ihe  Hebrew 
Word  here  used,  Exod  xii.35  36.  God  had  ordered 'he  Jews  to  demand 
these  as  their  pay  and  reward,  during  their  long  and  bitter  slavery  in 
Egypt,  as  atonement  for  the  lives  of  the  Egyptians,  and  as  the  condition 
of  the  Jews’  departure  and  of  the  Egyptian  deliverance  from  ihese  ter¬ 
rible  judgments,  which  had  they  notnow  ceased,  they  had  soon  beenall 
dead  men,  as  they  themselves  confess,  ch.  xii.  33  Nor  was  there  any 
sense  in  borrowing  or  lending,  when  the  Israelites  were  finally  departing 
out  of  the  land  for  ever. 

*  Why  our  Masorete  copy  so  groundlessly  abridges  this  account  in 
Exod  xii.  40,  as  to  ascribe  430  years  to  the  sole  peregrination  of  the  Is¬ 
raelites  in  Egypt,  when  it  is  clear,  even  by  that  Masorete  chronology' 
elsewhere,  as  well  from  the  express  text  itself  in  the  Samaritan,  Septu- 
agint,  and  Josephus,  that  they  sojourned  in  Egypt  but/raZ/that  lime  • 
and  that  by  consequence  the  other  half  of  their  peregrination  was  in  the 
land  of  Canaan,  before  they  came  into  Egypt,  is  hard  to  say.  See  Es¬ 
say  on  the  Old  Testament,  p.  62.  63. 


OP  THE  JEWS. 


m 


Chap .  XV. 

Egypt.  It  was  the  eightieth  year  of  the  age  of  Moses,  and 
of  that  of  Aaron  three  more.  They  also  carried  out  the 
bones  of  Joseph  with  them,  as  he  had  charged  his  sons  to  do. 

2.  But  the  Egyptians  soon  repented  that  the  Hebrews 
were  gone ;  and  the  king  also  was  mightily  concerned  that 
this  had  been  procured  by  the  magic  arts  of  Moses ;  so  they 
resolved  to  go  after  them.  Accordingly,  they  took  then- 
weapons  and  other  warlike  furniture,  and  pursued  after  them,, 
in  order  to  bring  them  back,  if  once  they  overtook  them, 
because  they  would  now  have  no  pretence  to  pray  to  God 
against  them,  since  they  had  already  been  permitted  to  go 
out :  and  they  thought  they  should  easily  overcome  them,  as 
they  had  no  armour,  and  would  be  weary  with  their  journey ; 
so  they  made  haste  in  their  pursuit,  and  asked  every  one  they 
met,  which  way  they  were  gone  5  and  indeed  that  land  was 
difficult  to  be  travelled  over,  not  only  by  armies,  but  by  sin¬ 
gle  persons.  Now  Moses  led  the  Hebrews  this  way,  that  in 
case  the  Egyptians  should  repent,  and  be  desirous  to  pursue 
after  them,  they  might  undergo  the  punishment  of  their  wick¬ 
edness  and  of  the  breach  of  those  promises  they  had  made 
to  them.  As  also  he  led  them  this  way  on  account  of  the 
Philistines,  who  had  quarrelled  with  them,  and  hated  them 
of  old,  that  by  all  means  they  might  not  know  of  their  depar¬ 
ture,  for  their  country  is  near  to  that  of  Egypt :  and  thence  it 
was  that  Moses  led  them  not  along  the  road  that  tended  to  the 
land  of  the  Philistines,  but  he  -was  desirous  that  they  should 
go  through  the  desert,  that  so,  after  a  long  journey,  and  af¬ 
ter  many  afflictions,  they  might  enter  upon  the  land  of  Ca¬ 
naan.  Another  reason  of  this  was,  that  God  had  command¬ 
ed  him  to  bring  the  people  to  Mount  Sinai,  that  there  they 
might  offer  him  sacrifices.  Now  when  the  Egyptians  had 
overtaken  the  Hebrew's,  they  prepared  to  fight  them,  and  by 
their  multitude  they  drove  them  into  a  narrow  place;  for  the 
number  that  pursued  after  them  was  six  hundred  charriots, 
with  fifty  thousand  horsemen,  and  two  hundred  thousand  foot¬ 
men,  all  armed.  They  also  seized  upon  the  passages  by  which 
they  imagined  the  Hebrews  might  fly,  shutting  them  up* 

*  Take  the  main  part  of  Reland’s  excellent  note  here,  which  greatly 
illustrates  Josephus,  and  the  scripture,  in  this  history,  as  follows:  [“  A 
traveller,  says  Reland,  whose  name  was]  Eneuian,  when  he  returned 
out  of  Egypt,  told  me,  that  he  went  the  same  way  from  Egypt  to  Mount 
Sinai,  which  he  supposed  the  Israelites  of  old  travelled ;  and  that  he 
found  several  mountainous  tracts,  that  ran  down  towards  the  Red  Sea. 
He  thought  the  Israelites  had  proceeded  as  far  as  the  desert  of  Ethan:, 
(Exod.  xiii.  20,)when  they  were  commanded  by  God  to  return  back, 
fExod.  xiv.  2,)  and  to  pitch  their  camp  between  Migdel  and  the  sea ;  and 
•that  when  they  were  not  able  to  fly,  unless  by  sea,  they  were  shut  in  on 


180 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  II. 


between  inaccessible  precipices,  and  the  sea;  for  there  was 
[on  each  side]  a  [ridge  of]  mountains,  that  terminated  at  the 
sea,  were  impassible,  by  reason  of  their  roughness,  and  ob¬ 
structed  their  flight ;  wherefore  they  there  pressed  upon  the 
Hebrews  with  the  army,  where  the  [ridges  of]  the  moun¬ 
tains  were  closed  with  the  sea,  which  army  they  placed  at  the 
chops  of  the  mountains,  that  so  they  might  deprive  them  of 
any  passage  into  the  plain. 

4.  When  the  Hebrews,  therefore,  were  neither  able  to 
bear  up,  being  thus,  as  it  were,  besieged,  because  they  wanted 
provisions  nor  saw  any  possible  way  of  escaping;  and  if  they 
should  have  thought  of  fighting,  they  had  no  weapons,  they 
expected  an  universal  destruction,  unless  they  delivered  them¬ 
selves  up  voluntarily  to  the  Egyptians.  So  they  laid  the 
blame  on  Moses,  and  forgot  all  the  signs  that  had  been 
wrought  by  God  for  the  recovery  of  their  freedom  ;  and  this 
so  far,  that  their  incredulity  prompted  them  to  throw  stones 
at  the  prophet,  while  he  encouraged  them,  and  promised  them 
deliverance ;  and  they  resolved  that  they  would  deliver  them¬ 
selves  up  to  the  Egyptians.  So  there  was  sorrow  and  lamen¬ 
tation  among  the  women  and  children,  who  had  nothing  but 
destruction  before  their  eyes,  while  they  were  encompassed 
with  mountains,  the  sea,  and  their  enemies,  and  discerned  no 
way  of  flying  from  them. 

5.  But  Moses,  though  the  multitude  looked  fiercely  at  him, 
did  not,  however,  give  over  the  care  of  them,  but  despised 
all  dangers,  out  of  his  trust  in  God,  who,  as  he  had  afforded 
them  the  several  steps  already  taken  for  their  recovery  of 
their  liberty,  which  he  had  foretold  them,  he  would  not  now 
suffer  them  to  be  subdued  by  their  enemies,  to  be  either 
made  slaves,  or  be  slain  by  them.  And  standing  in  the  midst 
of  them,  he  said,  “  It  is  not  just  for  us  to  distrust  even 
men,  when  they  have  hitherto  well  managed  our  affairs,  as  if 
they  would  not  be  the  same  men  hereafter ;  but  it  is  no  bet- 


each  side  by  mountains.  He  also  thought  we  might  evidently  learn 
hence,  how  it  might  be  said,  that  the  Israelites  were  in  Etbam  .before 
they  went  over  the  sea,  and  yet  might  be  said  to  have  come  into  Etham 
after  they  had  passed  over  the  sea  also.  Besides,  he  gave  an  account 
how  he  passed  over  a  river  in  a  boat,  nearthe  city  Sues,  which  he  says 
must  needs  he  the  Heropolis  of  the  ancients,  since  that  city  could  not  be 
situated  any  where  else  in  that  neighbourhood  ” 

As  to  the  famous  passage  produced  here  by  Dr.  Bernard  out  of  Hero¬ 
dotus,  as  the  most  ancient  heathen  testimony  of  the  Israelites  coming 
from  the  Red  Sea  into  Palestine,  Bishop  Cumberland  has  showed,  that 
it  belongs  to  the  old  Canaanite  or  Phoenician  shepherds,  and  their  re¬ 
tiring  out  of  Egypt  into  Canaan  or  Phoenicia,  long  before  the  days  of 
.Moses.  Sancfaoniatho,  p.  37-1, 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


181 


ehaj).  xn. 

ter  than  madness,  at  this  time,  to  despair  of  the  providence  of 
God,  by  whose  power  all  those  things  have  been  performed 
which  he  promised,  when  you  expected  no  such  things :  I 
mean  all  that  I  have  been  concerned  in  for  your  deliverance 
and  escape  from  slavery.  Nay,  when  we  are  in  the  utmost 
distress,  as  you  see  we  now  are,  we  ought  rather  to  hope 
that  God  will  succour  us,  by  whose  operation  it  is  that  we  are 
now  encompassed  within  this  narrow  place,  that  he  may  de¬ 
liver  us  out  of  such  difficulties  as  are  otherwise  unsurmounta- 
ble,  and  out  of  which  neither  you,  nor  your  enemies,  expect 
you  can  be  delivered,  and  may  at  once  demonstrate  his  own 
power,  and  his  providence  over  us.  Nor  does  God  use  to 
give  his  help  in  small  difficulties  to  those  whom  he  favours, 
but  in  such  cases,  where  no  one  can  see  how  any  hope  in  man. 
can  better  their  condition.  Depend,  therefore,  upon  such  a 
protector  as  is  able  to  make  small  things  great,  and  to  show 
that  this  mighty  force  against  you  is  nothing  but  weakness, 
and  be  not  affrighted  at  the  Egyptian  army ;  nor  do  you  des¬ 
pair  of  being  preserved,  because  the  sea  before,  and  the 
mountains  behind,  afford  you  no  opportunity  for  flying ;  for 
oven  these  mountains,  if  God  so  please,  may  be  made  plain 
ground  for  3’ou,  and  the  sea  become  dry  land.” 


CHAP  XVI. 

TIow  (he  sea  ivas  divided  asunder  for  the  Hebrews,  when  they 
were  pursued  by  the  Egyptians,  and  so  gave  them  an  op¬ 
portunity  of  escaping  from  them. 

§  1.  When  Moses  had  said  this,  he  led  them  to  the  sea, 
while  the  Egyptians  looked  on,  for  they  were  within  sight. 
Now  these  w  ere  so  distressed  by  the  toil  of  their  pursuit, 
that  they  thought  proper  to  put  off  fighting  till  the  next  day. 
I3ut  when  Moses  v'as  come  to  the  sea-shore,  he  took  his  rod, 
and  made  supplication  to  God,  and  called  upon  him  to  be 
their  helper  and  assistant ;  and  said,  “  Thou  art  not  ignorant, 
O  Lord,  that  it  is  beyond  human  strength  and  contrivance, 
to  avoid  the  difficulties  we  are  now  under,  but  it  must  be  thy 
work  altogether  to  procure  deliverance  to  this  army,  which 
has  left  Egypt  at  thy  appointment.  We  despair  of  any  other 
assistance  or  contrivance,  and  have  recourse  only  to  that 
hope  we  have  in  thee :  and  if  there  be  any  method  that  can 
promise  us  an  escape,  by  thy  providence,  we  look  up  to  thee 
for  it.  And  let  it  come  quickly  and  manifest  thy  power  to 
us  :  and  do  thou  raise  up  this  people  unto  good  courage  and 
hope  of  deliverance,  who  are  deeply  sunk  into  a  disconso. 
VOL.  1.  Q 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  n. 


i  82 

late  state  of  mind.  We  are  in  a  helpless  place,  but  still  it  is- 
a  place  that  thou  possessest ;  but  still  the  sea  is  thine,  the 
mountains  that  enclose  us  are  thine  ;  so  that  these  mountains 
will  open  themselves  if  thou  ^ommandest  them,  and  the  sea 
also,  if  thou  commandest  it,  vvill  become  dry  land.  Nay,  we 
might  escape  by  a  flight  through  the  air,  if  thou  shouldst 
determine  we  should  have  that  way  of  salvation.” 

2.  When  Moses  had  thus  addressed  himself  to  God,  he 
smote  the  sea  with  his  rod,  which  parted  asunder  at  the  stroke 
and  receiving  those  waters  into  itself,  left  the  ground  dry, 
as  a  road  and  a  place  of  flight  for  the  Hebrews.  Now,  when 
Moses  saw  this  appearance  of  God,  and  that  the  sea  went 
Out  of  its  own  place,  and  left  dry  land,  he  went  first  of  all  in¬ 
to  it,  and  bid  the  Hebrews  to  follow  him  along  that  divine 
Toad,  and  to  rejoice  at  the  danger  their  enemies  that  followed 
them  were  in ;  and  gave  thanks  to  God  for  this  so  surprising 
a  deliverance  which  appeared  from  him. 

3.  Now,  while  these  Hebrews  made  no  stay,  but  went  on 
earnestly,  as  led  by  God’s  presence  with  them,  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  supposed  at  first  that  they  were  distracted,  and  were 
going  rashly  upon  manifest  destruction.  But  when  they  saw 
that  they  were  gone  a  great  way  without  any  harm,  and  that 
no  obstacle  or  difficulty  fell  in  their  journey,  they  made  haste 
to  pursue  them,  hoping  that  the  sea  would  be  calm  for  them 
also.  They  put  their  horses  foremost,  and  went  down  them¬ 
selves  into  the  sea.  Now  the  Hebrews,  while  these  were 
putting  on  their  armour,  and  therein  spending  their  time, 
were  beforehand  with  them,  and  escaped  them,  and  got  first 
over  to  the  laud  on  the  other  side  without  any'  hurt.  Whence 
the  others  were  encouraged,  and  more  courageously  pursued 
•them,  as  hoping  no  harm  would  come  to  them  neither  ;  but 
the  Egyptians  were  not  aware  that  they  went  intp  a  road 
made  for  the  Hebrews,  and  not  for  others;  that  this  road 
was  made  for  the  deliverance  of  those  in  danger,  but  not  for 
those  that  were  earnest  to  make  use  of  it  for  the  others  de¬ 
struction.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  ever  the  whole  Egyptian 
army  was  within  it,  the  sea  flowed  to  its  own  place,  and  came 
down  with  a  torrent  raised  by  *storms  of  wind,  and  encom¬ 
passed  the  Egyptians.  Showers  of  rain  also  came  down 
from  the  sky,  and  dreadful  thunders  and  lightning,  with  flashes 
of  fire.  Thunder-bolts  also  were  darted  upon  them.  Nor 


*  Of  these  storms  of  wind,  thunder,  and  lightning,  at  this  drowning  of 
•Pharaoh's  army,  almost  wanting  in  our  copies  of  Exodus,  but  fully  ex¬ 
tant  in  thatof  David,  Psalm  Ixx  ii.  16 — 18,  and  in  that  of  Josephus  here, 
see  Essay  on  the  Old  Test,  append,  p.  154,  155. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


18.1 


Ghap.  XVI. 

was  there  any  thing  which  uses  to  be  sent  by  God  upon  men, 
as  indications  of  his  wrath,  which  did  not  happen  at  this  time 
for  &  dark  and  dismal  night  oppressed  them.  And  thus  dir] 
all  these  men  perish,  so  that  there  was  not  one  man  left  to 
be  a  messenger  of  this  calamity  to  the  rest  of  the  Egyptians. 

4.  But  the  Hebrews  were  not  able  to  contain  themselves 
for  joy  at  their  wonderful  deliverance,  and  destruction  of 
their  enemies  ;  now  indeed  supposing  themselves  firmly  de- 
livered,  when  those  that  would  have  forced  them  into  slavery 
were  destroyed,  and  when  they  found  they  had  God  so  evi¬ 
dently  for  their  protector.  And  now  these  Hebrews  having 
escaped  the  danger  they  were  in,  after  this  manner;  and  be¬ 
sides  that  seeing  their  enemies  punished  in  such  a  way  as  is 
never  recorded  of  any  other  men  whomsoever,  were  all  the 
night  employed  in  singing  of  hymns,  and  in  mirth.  #Moses 
also  composed  a  song  unto  God,  containing  his  praises,  and 
a  thanksgiving  for  his  kindness,  in  rhexameter  verse. 


-  What  some  have  here  objected  against  this  passage  of  the  Israelites 
over  the  Red  Sea,  in  this  one  night ,  from  the  common  maps,  viz.  that 
this  sea  being  here  about  30  miles  broad,  so  great  an  army  could  not  pass 
over  it  in  so  short  a  time,  is  a  great  mistake.  Mods.  Thevenot,  an  au¬ 
thentic  eye-u  itness.  informs  us,  that  this  sea,  for  about  5  day  s journey, 
is  no  where  more  than  about  eight  or  nine  miles  over-cross,  and  in  one 
place  but  lourorlive  miles  according  to  Dr  Lisle’s  map,  which  is  made 
from  the  best  travellers  themselves,  and  not  copied  from  others.  What 
has  been  farther  objected  against  this  passage  of  the  Israelites,  and 
drowning  of  the  Egyptians,  being  miraculous  also,  viz.  that  Moses  might 
carry  the  Israelite-  over  at  a  tow  tide,  without  any  miracle,  while  yet  the 
Egyptians,  not  knowing  the  tide  so  well  as  he,  might  he  drowned  upon 
the  return  of  the  tide,  is  a  strange  story  indeed  !  That  Moses,  who  never  1 
had  lived  here,  should  know  the.  quantity  and  time  of  the  flux  and  reflux 
of  the  Red  Sea  better  than  the  Egyptians  themselves  in  its  neighbour¬ 
hood'.  yet  does  Artabanus,  an  ancient  heathen  historian,  inform  us,  thaji 
(his  was  what  the  more  ignorant  Menophites,  who  lived  at  a  great  dis-  , 
tance,  pretended  ;  though  he  confesses  that  the  more  learned  Heliopo- 
litans,  who  lived  much  nearer,  owned  the  destruction  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  the  deliverance  of  the  Israelites,  to  have  been  miraculous  And  de 
Castro,  a  mathematician,  who  surveyed  this  sea  with  great  exactness, 
informs  us,  that  there  is  no  great  flux  or  reflux  iri  this  part  of  the  Red  Sea 
to  give  a  colour  to  this  hypothesis;  nay,  that  the  elevation  of  the  tide 
there  is  little  above  half  the  height  of  a  man  See  Essay  on  the  Old  Test, 
append,  p.  239,  240.  So  vain  and  groundless  are  these  and  the  like  eva¬ 
sions  and  subterfuges  of  our  modern  sceptics  and  believers  ;  and  so  cer¬ 
tainly  do  thorough  inquiries  arid  authentic  evidence  disprove  and  con¬ 
fute  such  evasions  and  subterfuges  upon  all  occasions. 

t  What  that  hexameter  verse,  in  which  Moses’s  triumphant  song  is 
Itere  said  to  be  written,  distinctly  means,  our  present  ignorance  of  the 
aid  Hebrew  metre  or  measure  will  not  let  us  determine.  Nor  does  it 
appear  to  me  certain,  that  even  Josephus  himself  had  a  distinct  notion  of 
it,  though  he  speaks  of  several  sorts  of  that  metre  or  measure  both  here 
gnd  elsewhere.  Antiq.  B.  iv.  ch.  viii.  §  44,  and  B.  vii.  ch.  xii,  §  3.  yol.  i. 


184  ANTIQUITIES  Book  II. 

5.  As  for  myself,  I  have  delivered  every  part  of  this  his¬ 
tory  as  I  found  it  in  the  sacred  books  ;  nor  let  any  one  *won- 
der  at  the  strangeness  of  the  narration,  if  a  way  were  disco¬ 
vered  to  those  men  of  old  time,  who  were  free  from  the 


*  Take  here  the  original  passages  of  the  four  old  authors  that  still  re¬ 
main,  as  to  this  tarnsit  of  Alexander  the  Great  over  the  Pamphylian  sea, 
I  mean  of  Callisthcnes,  Strabo,  Arrian,  and  Appian  As  to  Caliisthenes, 
who  himself  accompanied  Alexander  in  this  expedition.  Eustathius,  in 
his  notes  upon  the  third  Iliad  of  Homer,  as  Dr.  Bernard  here  informs  us, 
says,  “That  this  Caliisthenes  wrote,  how  the  Pamphylian  sea  did  not 
Only  open  a  passage  for  Alexander,  but  by  rising  and  elevating  its  waters 
did  pay  him  homage  as  its  king.”  Strabo’s  account  is  this.  Georg  B.  xiv. 
p.  666.  “Now  about  Phaselis  is  that  narrow  passage,  by  the  seaside, 
through  which  Alexander  led  his  army.  There  is  a  mountain  called 
Climax,  which  adjoins  to  the  sea  of  Pamphylia,  leaving  a  narrow  pas¬ 
sage  on  the  shore,  which  in  calm  weather  is  bare,  so  as  to  be  passable  by 
travellers;  but  when  the  sea  overflow's,  it  is  covered  to  a  great  degree  by 
<he  waves.  Now  then  the  ascent  by  the  mountains  being  round  about 
and  steep,  in  still  weather  they  make  use  of  the  road  along  the  coast 
’but  Alexander  fell  into  the  winter  season,  and  permitting  himself  chiefly' 
to  fortune,  he  marched  on  before  the  waves  retired,  and  so  it  happen  d 
that  they  were  a  whole  day  in  journeying  over  it.  and  were  under  water 
lip  to  the  navel.” — Arrian’s  account  is  this,  B.  i  p.  72.  73.  “  When 

Alexander  removed  from  Phaselis,  he  sent  some  part  of  his  army  over 
the  mountains  to  Perga  ;  which  road  the  Thracians  show  ed  him.  A 
difficult  way  it  was,  but  short.  However,  he  himself  conducted  those 
that  were  with  him  by  the  sea  shore.  This  road  is  impassable  at  any 
Other  time  than  w’hen  the  north  wind  blows  :  but  if  the  south  wind  pre¬ 
vail,  there  is.  no  passing  by  the  shore  Now,  at  this  time,  after  strong 
south  winds,  a  north  wind  blew  ;  and  that  not  without  the  divine  provi¬ 
dence,  (as  both  he  and  they  that  were  with  him  supposed,)  and  afford¬ 
ed  him  an  easy  and  a  quick  passage  ”  Appian.  when  he  compares  Cae- 
sar  and  Alexander  together  (De  Bel  Civil.  B.  ii.  p.  522.)  say's,  “  That 
they  both  depended  on  their  holdnes-  and  fortune,  as  much  as  on  their 
skill  in  war.  4s  an  instance  of  which,  Alexander  journey'ed  over  a 
country  without  w'ater  in  the  heat  of  summer,  to  the  oracle  of  [Jupiter^ 
Hamraon,  and  quickly  passed  over  the  bay  of  Pamphylia,  when,  by  di¬ 
vine  providence,  the  sea  w'as  cut  off:  thus  'providence  restraining  the  sea 
On  his  account,  as  it  had  sent  him  rain  w'hen  he  travelled  [over  the  de¬ 
sert.”] 

N.  B  Since  in  the  day's  of  Josephus,  as  he  assures  us,  all  the  more 
numerous  original  historians  of  Alexander  gave  the  account  he  has  here 
Set  down,  as  to  the  providential  going  back  of  the  wa  ers  of  the  Pam- 
phylian  sea,  when  he  was  going  with  his  army  to  destroy  the  Persian 
monarchy,  which  the  forenamed  authors  now  remaining  fully  confirm, 
it  is  without  all  just  foundation  that  Josephus  is  here  blamed  by  some 
fate  writers  for  quoting  those  ancient  authors  upon  the  present  occasion  ; 
sior  can  the  reflections  of  Plutarch,  or  any  other  author  later  than  Jo¬ 
sephus,  be  in  the  least  here  alleged  to  contradict  him.  Josephus  went 
fay' all  the  evidence  he  then  had,  and  that  evidence  of  the  most  authentic 
sort  also:  so  that  whatever  the  modern-  may  think  of  the  thing  itself, 
there  is  hence  not  the  least  colour  for  finding  fault  with  Josephus  :  he 
Would  rather  have  been  much  to  blame  had  he  omitted  these  quotations, 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


183 


Chap.  XFI. 

wickedness  of  the  modern  ages,  whether  it  happened  b}'  the 
will  of  God,  or  whether  it  happened  of  its  own  accord  * 
while,  for  the  sake  of  those  that  accompanied  Alexander,  king 
of  Macedonia,  who  yet  lived  comparatively  but  a  little  while 
ago,  the  Pamphylian  sea  retired  and  afforded  them  a  passage 
•through  itself,  when  they  had  no  other  way  to  go  ;  I  mean, 
when  it  was  the  will  of  God  to  destroy  the  monarchy  of  the 
*  Persians :  and  this  is  confessed  to  be  true  by  all  that  have 
written  about  the  actions  of  Alexander.  But  as  to  these 
events,  let  every  one  determine  as  he  pleases. 

6.  On  the  next  day,  Moses  gathered  together  the  weapons 
of  the  Egyptians,  which  were  brought  to  the  camp  of  the  He¬ 
brews,  by  the  current  of  the  sea,  and  the  force  of  the  winds 
assisting  it ;  and  he  conjectured  that  this  also  happened  by 
divine  providence,  that  so  they  might  not  be  destitute  of  wea 
•pons.  So  when  he  had  ordered  the  Hebrews  to  arm  them¬ 
selves  with  them,  he  led  them  to  mount  Sinai,  in  order  to  of¬ 
fer  sacrifice  to  God,  and  to  render  oblations  for  the  salvation 
of  the  multitude,  as  he  was  charged  to  do  beforehand, 


22QQ2E  XXX. 

CONTAINING  THE  INTERNAL  OF  2  YEARS. 

[From  the  Exodus  out  of  Egypt  to  the  rejection  of  that  generation.] 


CHAP.  I. 

How  Moses,  token  he  had  brought  the  people  out  of  Egypt. 

led  them  to  Mount  Sinai,  but  not  till  they  had  suffered 

much  in  their  journey. 

§  1.  When  the  Hebrews  had  obtained  such  a  wonderful  de¬ 
liverance,  the  country  was  a  great  trouble  to  them,  for  it  was 
entirely  a  desert,  and  without  all  sustenance  for  them ;  and 
also  had  exceeding  little  water,  so  that  it  not  only  was  not  at 
all  sufficient  for  the  men,  but  not  enough  to  feed  any  of  the 
cattle,  for  it  was  parched  up,  and  had  no  moisture  that  might 
afford  nutriment  to  the  vegetables  ;  so  they  were  forced  to 
travel  over  this  country,  as  having  no  other  country  but  this 
to  travel  in.  They  had,  indeed,  carried  water  along  with 
them  from  the  land  over  which  they  had  travelled  before,  as 
their  conductor  had  bidden  them  ;  but  when  that  was  spent, 
they  were  obliged  to  draw  water  out  of  wells  with  pain,  by 
reason  of  the  hardness  of  the  soil.  Moreover,  what  water 
they  found  was  bitter,  and  not  fit  for  drinking,  and  this  in 
small  quantities  also.  And  as  they  thus  travelled,  they  came 
late  in  the  evening  to  a  place  called  *Marah,  which  had  this 
name  from  the  badness  of  its  water,  for  Mar  denotes  bitter¬ 
ness.  Thither  they  came  afflicted,  both  by  the  tediousness  5 
of  their  journey,  and  by  their  want  of  food,  for  it  entirely 
(ailed  them  at  that  time.  Now  here  was  a  well,  which  made 
them  choose  to  stay  in  the  place,  which,  although  it  were 
not  sufficient  to  satisfy  so  great  an  army,  did  yet  afford  them 

*  Dr.  Bernard  takes  notice  here,  that  this  place  .Mar,  where  the  wa¬ 
ters  were  hitter,  is  called  by  the  Syrians  and  Arabians  Marari,  and  bv 
the  Syrians,  sometimes  Moralh,  all  derived  from  the  Hebrew  Mar:  lie 
also  takes  notice,  that  it  is  called  the  bitter  fountain,  by  Pliny  himself. 
Which  waters  remain  there  to  this  day,  and  are  still  bitter,  as  Thevenot 
assures  us  ;  and  that  there  are  also  abundance -of  palm-trees.  See  his 
Travels,  part  i.  chap,  xxvi-  p.  ICO. 


18?' 


G 'hap.  I.  ANTIQUITIES,  &c. 

some  comfort,  as  found  in  such  desert  places ;  for  they  heard 
from  those  who  had  been  to  search,  that  there  was  nothing  to 
be  found,  if  they  travelled  farther.  Yet  was  this  water  bitter, 
and  not  tit  for  men  to  drink  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  it  was  in¬ 
tolerable  even  to  the  cattle  themselves. 

2.  When  Moses  saw  how  much  the  people  were  cast  down, 
and  that  the  occasion  of  it  could  not  be  contradicted,  for  the 
people  were  not  in  the  nature  of  a  complete  army  of  men,  who 
might  oppose  a  manly  fortitude  to  the  necessity  that  distress¬ 
ed  them.  The  multitude  of  the  children,  and  of  the  women 
also,  being  of  too  weak  capacities  to  be  persuaded  by  reason, 
blunted  the  courage  of  the  men  themselves.  Moses,  there¬ 
fore,  was  in  great  difficulties,  and  made  every  body’s  calami¬ 
ty  to  be  his  own  ;  for  they  ran  all  of  them  to  him,  and  beg¬ 
ged  of  him  ;  the  women  begged  for  their  infants,  and  the  men 
for  the  women,  that  he  would  not  overlook  them,  but  pro¬ 
cure  some  way  or  other  for  their  deliverance.  lie,  therefore, 
betook  himself  to  prayer  to  God,  that  he  would  change  the 
water  from  its  present  badness,  and  make  it  fit  for  drinking. 
And  when  God  had  granted  him  that  favour,  he  took  the  top 
of  a  stick  that  lay  down  at  his  feet,  and  divided  it  in  the  mid¬ 
dle,  and  made  the  section  length-ways.  lie  then  let  it  down 
into  the  well,  and  persuaded  the  Hebrews  that  God  had  heark¬ 
ened  to  his  prayers,  and  had  promised  to  render  the  water 
such  as  they  desired  it  to  be,  in  case  they  would  be  subser¬ 
vient  to  him  in  what  he  should  enjoin  them  to  do  ;  and  this 
not  after  a  remiss  or  negligent  manner.  And  when  they  ask¬ 
ed  what  they  were  to  do  in  order  to  have  the  water  changed 
for  the  better,  he  bid  the  ^strongest  men  among  them  that 

*  The  additions  liere  to  Moses’s  account  of  the  sweetuing  the  water 
at  Marah,  seem  derived  from  some  ancient  profane  author,  and  he  such 
an  author  as  also  looks  less  authentic  than  are  usually  followed  by  Jose¬ 
phus  Philo  has  not  a  syllable  of  these  additions,  nor  any  other  ancient 
writer  that  we  know  of.  Had  Josephus  written  these  his  Antiquities  for 
the  use  of  Jews,  he  would  hardly  have  given  them  these  very  impra- 
bable  circumstances;  but  writing  to  Gentiles,  that  they  might  not  com¬ 
plain  of  ids  omission  of  any  accounts  of  such  miracles  derivedtrom  Gen¬ 
tiles,  he  did  not  think  proper  to  conceal  what  he  had  met  with  there 
about  this  matter;  which  procedure  is  perfectly  agreeable  to  the  cha¬ 
racter  and  usage  of  Josephus  upon  many  occasions.  This  note  is,  I  con¬ 
fess,  barely  conjectural ;  and  since  Josephus  never  tells  us  when  his  own 
copy,  taken  out  of  the  temple,  had  such  additions,  or  when  any  ancient 
notes  supplied  them  ;  or,  indeed,  when  they  were  derived  from  Jewish, 
and  when  from  Gentile  antiquity,  we  can  go  no  further  than  hare  con¬ 
jectures  in  such  cases;  only  the  notions  of  Jews  were  generally  so  differ¬ 
ent  from  those  of  Gentiles,  that  we  may  sometimes  make  no  improbable 
conjectures  to  which  sort  such  additions  belong.  See  also  somewhat 
tike  these  additions  in  Josephus’s  account  of  Elisha’s  making  sweet  the 
bitter  and  barren  spring  near  Jericho  ;  of  the  War,  B.  iv.  ch.  viii,  S  3. 
Toh  v. 


188 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  III 


Stood  there  to  draw  up  water  ;  and  told  them,  that  when  the 
greatest  part  was  drawn  up,  the  remainder  would  be  fit  to 
drink  :  so  they  laboured  at  it  till  the  water  was  so  agitated 
and  purged,  as  to  be  fit  to  drink. 

3.  And  now,  removing  from  thence,  they  came  to  Elim  : 
which  place  looked  well  at  a  distance,  for  there  was  a  grove 
of  palm-trees  :  but  when  they  came  near  it,  it  appeared  to  be 
a  bad  place,  for  the  palm-trees  were  no  more  than  seventy  ; 
and  they  were  ill  grown,  and  creeping  trees,  by  the  want  of 
water,  for  the  country  about  was  all  parched,  and  no  mois¬ 
ture  sufficient  to  water  them,  and  make  them  hopeful  and 
useful,  was  derived  to  them  from  the  fountains,  which  were 
in  number  twelve  :  they  were  rather  a  few  moist  places  than 
springs,  which,  not  breaking  out  of  the  ground,  nor  running 
over,  could  not  sufficiently  water  the  trees.  And  when  they 
dug  into  the  sand,  they  met  with  no  water  :  and  if  they  took 
a  few  dops  of  it  into  their  hands,  they  found  it  to  be  useless, 
on  account  of  its  mud.  The  trees  also  were  too  weak  to  bear 
fruit,  for  want  of  being  sufficiently  cherished  and  enlivened 
by  the  water.  So  they  laid  the  blame  on  their  conductor,  and 
made  heavy  complaints  against  him;  and  said,  that  this  their 
miserable  state,  and  the  experience  they  had  of  adversity, 
were  owing  to  him  ;  for  that  they  had  then  journeyed  an  en¬ 
tire  thirty  days,  and  had  spent  all  the  provisions  they  had 
brought  with  them,  and  meeting  with  no  relief,  they  were  in 
a  very  desponding  condition.  And  by  fixing  their  attention 
upon  nothing  but  their  present  misfortunes,  they  were  hind¬ 
ered  front  remembering  what  deliverances  they  had  received 
from  God,  and  those  by  the  virtue  and  wisdom  of  Moses  also ; 
so  they  were  very  angry  at  their  conductor,  and  were  zealous 
in  their  attempt  to  stone  him,  as  the  direct  occasion  of  their 
present  miseries. 

4.  But  as  for  Moses  himself,  while  the  multitude  were  ir¬ 
ritated  and  bitterly  set  against  him,  he  cheerfully  relied  on 
God,  and  on  his  consciousness  of  the  care  he  had  taken  of 
these  his  own  people  :  and  he  came  into  the  midst  of  them 
even  while  they  clamoured  against  him,  and  had  stones  in 
their  hands  in  order  to  despatch  him.  Now  he  was  of  an  a- 
grecable  presence,  and  very  able  to  persuade  the  people  by 
his  speeches  ;  accordingly,  he  began  to  mitigate  their  anger, 
and  exhorted  them  not  to  be  over-mindful  of  their  present  ad¬ 
versities,  lest  they  should  thereby  suffer  the  benefits  that  had 
formerly  been  bestowed  on  them  to  slip  out  of  their  me¬ 
mories  ;  and  he  desired  them  by  no  means,  on  account  of 
their  present  uneasiness,  to  cast  those  great  and  wonderful 
favours  and  gifts,  which  they  had  obtained  of  God,  out  of 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


189 


Chap.  1. 

their  minds,  but  to  expect  deliverance  out  of  those  their  pre¬ 
sent  troubles,  which  they  could  not  free  themselves  from, 
and  this  by  the  means  of  that  divine  providence  which  pre¬ 
sided  over  them.  Seeing  it  is  probable  that  God  tries  their 
virtue,  and  exercises  their  patience  by  these  adversities,  that 
it  may  appear  what  fortitude  they  have,  and  what  memory 
they'  retain  of  his  former  wonderful  works  in  their  favour, 
and  whether  they  will  not  think  of  them  upon  occasion  of 
the  miseries  they  now  feel.  He  told  them  it  appeared  they 
were  not  really  good  men,  either  in  patience  or  remember¬ 
ing  what  had  been  successfully  done  for  them,  sometimes  by 
contemning  God  and  his  commands,  when  by  those  commands 
they  left  the  land  of  Egypt;  and  sometimes  by  behaving 
themselves  ill  towards  him  who  was  the  servant  of  God,  and 
this  when  he  had  never  deceived  them,  either  in  what  he 
said,  or  had  ordered  them  to  do  by  God’s  command.  He  al¬ 
so  put  them  in  mind  of  all  that  had  passed;  how  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  were  destroyed  when  they  attempted  to  detain  them, 
contrary  to  the  command  of  God  ;  and  alter  what  manner  the 
very  same  river  was  to  the  other  bloody,  and  not  tit  for  drink¬ 
ing,  but  was  to  them  sweet  and  fit  tor  drinking ;  and  how 
they  went  a  new  road  through  the  sea,  which  fled  a  long  way 
from  them,  by  which  very  means  they  were  themselves  pre¬ 
served,  but  saw  their  enemies  destroyed  ;  and  that  when  they 
were  in  want  of  weapons,  God  gave  them  plenty  of  them: 
and  so  he  recounted  all  the  particular  instances,  how  when 
they  were,  in  appearance  just  going  to  be  destroyed,  God 
had  saved  them  in  a  surprising  manner:  that  he  had  still  the 
same  power  ;  and  that  they  ought  not  even  now  to  despair 
of  his  providence  over  them  :  and  accordingly  he  exhorted 
them  to  continue  quiet,  and  to  consider  that  help  will  not 
come  too  late  though  it  come  not  immediately,  if  it  be  pre¬ 
sent  with  them  before  they  suffer  any  great  misfortune:  that 
they  ought  to  reason  thus,  that  God  delays  to  assist  them,  not 
because  he  has  no  regard  to  them,  but  because  he  will  first 
try  their  fortitude,  and  the  pleasure  they  take  in  their  free¬ 
dom,  that  he  may  learn  whether  you  have  souls  great  enough 
to  bear  want  of  food,  and  scarcity  of  waters  on  its  account ; 
or  whether  you  rather  love  to  be  slaves,  as  cattle  are  slaves 
to  such  as  own  them,  and  feed  them  liberally,  but  only  in  or¬ 
der  to  make  them  more  useful  in  their  service.  That  as  for 
himself,  he  shall  not  be  so  much  concerned  for  his  own  pre¬ 
servation  ;  for  if  he  die  unjustly,  he  shall  not  reckon  it  any 
affliction,  but  that  he  is  concerned  for  them,  lest,  by  casting 
stones  at  him,  they  should  be  thought  to  condemn  God  himself, 
5.  By  this  means  Moses  pacified  the  people  and  restrain- 


i90  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  III 

ed  them  from  stoning  him,  and  brought  them  to  repent  of 
what  they  were  going  to  do.  And  because  he  thought  the 
necessity  they  were  under  made  their  passion  less  unjustifia¬ 
ble,  he  thought  he  ought  to  apply  himself  to  God  by  prayer 
and  supplication ;  and  going  up  to  an  eminence,  he  requested 
of  God  for  some  succour  for  the  people,  and  some  way  of  de¬ 
liverance  from  the  want  they  were  in,  because  in  him,  and 
in  him  alone,  was  their  hope  of  salvation :  and  he  desired 
that  he  would  forgive  what  necessity  forced  the  people  to  do, 
since  such  was  the  nature  of  mankind,  hard  to  please,  and 
very  complaining  under  adversities.  Accordingly  God  pro¬ 
mised  he  would  take  care  of  them,  and  afford  them  the 
succour  they  were  desirous  of.  Now  when  Moses  had  heard 
this  from  God,  he  came  down  to  the  multitude :  but  as  soon 
as  they  saw  him  joyful  at  the  promises  he  had  received  from 
God,  they  changed  their  sad  countenances  into  gladness.  So 
he  placed  himself  in  the  midst  of  them,  arid  told  them,  he 
came  to  bring  them  from  God  a  deliverance  out  of  ther  pre¬ 
sent  distresses.  Accordingly,  a  little  after,  came  a  vast  num¬ 
ber  of  quails,  which  is  a  bird  more  plentiful  in  this  Arabian 
Guif  than  any  where  else,  flying  over  the  sea,  and  hovered 
over  them,  till  weary  with  their  laborious  flight,  and  indeed, 
as  usual,  flying  very  near  to  the  earth,  they  fell  down  upon 
the  Hebrews,  who  caught  them,  and  satisfied  their  hunger 
with  them,  and  supposed  that  this  was  the  method  whereby 
God  meant  to  supply  them  with  food.  Upon  which  Moses 
returned  thanks  to  God  for  affording  them  his  assistance  so 
Suddenly,  and  sooner  than  he  had  promised  them. 

6.  But  presently  after  this  first  supply  of  food,  he  sent 
them  a  second :  for  as  Moses  was  lifting  up  his  hands  in 
prayer,  a  dew  fell  down  ;  and  Moses,  when  he  found  it  stick 
to  his  hands,  supposed  this  was  also  come  for  food  from  God 
to  them,  he  tasted  it ;  and  perceiving  that  the  people  knew 
not  what  it  was,  and  thought  it  snowed,  and  that  it  was  what 
usually  fell  at  that  time  of  the  year,  he  informed  them  that 
this  did  not  fall  from  heaven  after  the  manner  they  ima¬ 
gined,  but  came  for  their  preservation  and  sustenance. 
he  tasted  it,  and  gave  them  some  of  it,  that  they  might  be  sa¬ 
tisfied  about  what  he  had  told  them.  They  also  imitated 
their  conductor,  and  were  pleased  with  their  food,  for  it  was 
like  honey  in  sweetness,  and  pleasant  taste,  but  in  its  body  to 
bdellium  one  of  sweet  spices  but  in  bigness  equal  to  corian¬ 
der  seed.  And  very  earnest  they  were  in  gathering  it :  but 
they  were  enjoined  to  gather*  it  equally,  the  measure  of  an 

*  It  seems  to  me  from  what  Moses,  Esod.  svi.  18,  St .  Paul,  2  Cor.’ 
viii.  and  Josephus  here  says,  compared  together,  that  the  quantity 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  I. 


10  i 


Jioraer  for  each  man  every  clay,  because  this  food  should  not 
come  in  too  small  a  quantity,  lest  the  weaker  might  not  be 
able  to  get  their  share,  by  reason  of  the  over-bearing  of  the 
Strong  in  collecting  it.  However  these  strong  men,  when 
they  had  gathered  more  than  the  measure  appointed  for  them 
they  had  no  more  than  others,  but  only  tired  themselves  more 
in  gathering  it,  for  they  found  no  more  than  an  homer  a  piece  ; 
and  the  advantage  they  got  by  what  was  superfluous,  was 
none  at  all,  it  corrupting,  both  by  the  worms  breeding  in  it, 
and  by  its  bitterness.  So  divine  and  wonderful  a  food  this 
Was!  It  also  supplied  the  want  of  other  sorts  of  food  to  those 
that  fed  on  it.  And  even  #now  in  all  that  place  this  manna 
comes  down  in  rain,  according  to  what  Moses  then  obtained 
of  God,  to  send  it  the  people  for  their  sustenance.  Now 
the  Hebrew  manna  ;  for  the  particle  man ,  in  our  language, 
is  the  asking  of  a  question,  What  is  this  ?  So  the  Hebrew's 
were  very  joyful  at  what  was  sent  them  from  heaven.  Now 
they  made  use  of  this  food  for  forty  years,  or  as  long  as  they 
were  in  the  wilderness. 

7-  As  soon  as  they  were  removed  thence,  Jhey  came  to 
llephidim,  being  distressed  to  the  last  degree  by  thirst ;  and 
while  in  the  foregoing  days  they  had  light  on  a  few  small 
fountains,  but  now  found  the  earth  entirely  destitute  of  wa¬ 
ter,  they  were  in  an  evil  case.  They  again  turned  their  an¬ 
ger  against  Moses;  but  he  at  first  avoided  the  fury  of  the 
multitude,  and  then  betook  himself  to  prayer  to  God,  be¬ 
seeching  him,  that  as  he  had  given  them  food  when  they  were 
in  the  greatest  want  of  it,  so  he  w'ould  give  them  drink,  since 
the  favour  of  giving  them  food  was  of  no  value  to  them  while 


of  manna  that  fell  daily,  and  did  not  putrify,  was  just  so  much  as  came 
to  an  homer  a  piece  through  the  whole  host  ol  Israel,  and  no  more. 

*  This  supposal,  that  the  sweet  honey  dew,  or  manna,  so  celebrated 
in  ancient  and  modern  authors,  as  falling  usually  in  Arabia,  was  of  the 
very  same  sort  with  this  manna  sent  to  ( lie  Israelites,  favours  more  of 
Gentilism,  than  of  Judaism  or  Christianity.  ’Tis  not  improbable  that 
some  ancient  Gentile  author,  read  by  Josephus,  so  thought ;  nor  would 
he  here  contradict  him,  though  just  before  and  Antiq.  B.  iv.  ch.  iii.  §  2, 
he  seems  directly  to  allow  that  it  had  not  been  seen  before.  However, 
this  food  from  heaven  is  here  discribed  to  be  like  snow  ;  and  in  Artaba- 
nus,  an  heathen  writer,  it  is  compared  to  meal  like  to  oat-meal,  in  colour 
like  to  snoio,  ruined  down  by  God.  Essay  on  the  Old  Test,  append,  p. 
239.  But  as  to  the  derivation  of  the  word  manna,  whether  from  man, 
which  Josephus  says  then  signified,  what  is  it?  or  from  manak,  to  divide, 
i  e.  a  dividend  or  portion  allotted  to  every  one,  it  is  uncertain.  I  incline 
to  the  latter  derivation.  This  manna  is  called  angel's  food  Psalm  Ixxvii. 
26,  and  by  our  Saviour,  John  vi.  31,  &c.  as  well  as  by  Josephus  here 
and  elsewhere,  Antiq.  B.  iii.  ch.  V.  §  3,  said  to  be  sent  the  Jews  from 
hem'en. 


392  ANTIQUITIES  Book  III, 

they  had  nothing  to  drink.  And  God  did  not  long  delay  to 
give  it  them,  but  promised  Moses  that  he  would  procure  them 
a  fountain  and  plenty  of  water,  from  a  place  they  did  not 
expect  any  :  so  he  commanded  him  to  smite  the  rock  which 
#they  saw  lying  there,  with  his  rod,  and  out  of  it  to  receive 
plenty  of  what  they  wanted;  for  he  had  taken  care  that  drink 
should  come  to  them  without  any  labour  or  pains-taking. 
When  Moses  had  received  this  command  from  God,  he  came 
to  the  people  who  waited  for  him,  and  looked  upon  him,  for 
they  saw  already  that  he  was  coming  apace  from  his  eminence. 

As  soon  as  he  was  come,  he  told  them,  that  God  would  deliver 
them  from  their  present  distress,  and  had  granted  them  an  un¬ 
expected  favour ;  and  informed  them,  that  a  river  should  run 
for  their  sakes  out  of  the  rock.  But  they  were  amazed  at 
that  hearing,  supposing  they  were  of  necessity  to  cut  the  rock 
in  pieces,  now  they  were  distressed  by  their  thirst  and  by 
their  journey  ;  while  Moses  only  smiting  the  rock  with  his 
rod,  opened  a  passage,  and  out  of  it  burst  out  water,  and  that  I 
in  great  abundance,  and  very  clear.  But  they  were  astonish¬ 
ed  at  this  w'onderful  effect ;  and,  as  it  were,  quenched  their 
thirst  by  the  very  sight  of  it.  So  they  drank  this  pleasant, 
this  sweet  water;  and  such  it  seemed  to  be,  as  might  well  be 
expected  where  God  was  the  donor.  They  were  also  in  ad¬ 
miration  how  Moses  was  honoured  by  God  ;  and  they  made 
grateful  returns  of  sacrifices  to  God  for  his  providence  towards 
them.  Now  that  scripture,  which  is  t  laid  up  in  the  temple, 
informs  us  how  God  foretold  to  Moses,  that  water  should  in 
this  manner  be  derived  out  of  the  rock. 


CHAP.  II. 

How  the  Amalekites ,  and  the  neighbouring  nations,  made  war 
with  the  Hebrews,  and  were  beaten,  and  lost  a  great  part 
of  their  army. 

§  1.  The  name  of  the  Hebrews  began  already  to  be  every 
where  renowned,  and  rumours  about  them  ran  abroad. 
This  made  the  inhabitants  of  those  countries  to  be  in  no 
small  fear.  Accordingly,  the}7  sent  ambassadors  to  one  ano- 

*  This  rock  is  thereat  this  day,  as  the  travellers  agree;  and  must 
he  the  same  as  wTas  there  in  the  days  of  Moses,  as  being  too  large  to  be 
brought  thither  by  our  modern  carriages. 

1  Note  here,  that  the  small  hook  of  the  principal  laws  of  Moses  is  ever 
said  to  be  laid  up  in  the  holy  house  itself/  but  the  larger  Pentateuch,  as 
here,  somewhere  within  the  limits  Df  fhe  temple  and  its  courts  only.  See 
Antiq.  B.  v.  ch.  i.  §  17. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


193 


^hap.  II. 

ther,  and  exhorted  one  another  to  defend  themselves,  and  to 
endeavour  to  destroy  these  men.  Those  that  induced  the 
rest  to  do  so,  were  such  as  inhabited  Gobolitis  and  Petra.. 
They  were  called  Amalekites,  and  were  the  most  warlike  of 
the  nations  that  lived  thereabouts  ;  and  whose  kings  exhort¬ 
ed  one  another,  and  their  neighbours,  to  go  to  this  war  against 
the  Hebrews  ;  telling  them,  that  an  army  of  strangers,  and  such 
an  one  who  had  run  away  from  slavery  under  the  Egyptians^, 
lay  in  wait  to  ruin  them  ;  which  army  they  were  not,  in  com¬ 
mon  prudence,  and  regard  to  their  own  safety,  to  overlook, 
but  to  crush  them  before  they  gather  strength,  and  come  to 
be  in  prosperity  ;  and  perhaps  attack  them  first  in  an  hostile 
manner,  as  presuming  upon  our  indolence  in  not  attacking 
them  belbre  ;  and  that  we  ought  to  avenge  ourselves  of  them 
for  what  they  had  done  in  the  wilderness  ;  but  that  this  can¬ 
not  be  so  well  done  when  they  have  once  laid  their  hands  on 
our  cities  and  our  goods  :  that  those  who  endeavour  to  crush 
a  power  in  its  first  rise,  are  wiser  than  those  that  endeavour 
to  put  a  stop  to  its  progress  when  it  is  become  formidable  ; 
for  these  last  seem  to  be  angry  only  at  the  flourishing  of 
others,  but  the  former  do  not  leave  any  room  for  their  ene¬ 
mies  to  become  troublesome  to  them.  After  they  had  sent 
such  embassage^to  the  neighbouring  nations,  and  among  one 
another,  they  resolved  to  attack  the  Hebrews  in  battle. 

2.  These  proceedings  of  the  people  of  these  countries  oc¬ 
casioned  perplexity  and  trouble  to  Moses,  who  expected  no 
such  warlike  preparations.  And  when  these  nations  were 
ready  to  fight,  and  the  multitude  of  the  Hebrews  were  oblig¬ 
ed  to  try  the  fortune  of  war,  they  were  in  a  mighty  disorder, 
and  in  want  of  all  necessaries,  and  yet  were  to  make  war 
with  men  who  were  thoroughly  well  prepared  for  it.  Then, 
therefore,  it  was  that  Moses  began  to  encourage  them,  and 
to  exhort  them  to  have  a  good  heart,  and  rely  on  God’s  as¬ 
sistance,  by  which  they  had  been  advanced  into  a  state  of 
freedom,  and  to  hope  for  victory  over  those,  who  were  ready 
to  fight  with  them,  in  order  to  deprive  them  of  that  blessing. 
That  they  were  to  suppose  their  own  army  to  be  numerous, 
■wanting  nothing,  neither  weapons,  nor  money,  nor  provisions, 
nor  such  other  conveniences  as  when  men  are  in  possession  of 
they  fight  undauntedly;  and  that  they  are  to  judge  them¬ 
selves  to  have  all  these  advantages  in  the  divine  assistance. 
They  are  also  to  suppose  the  enemies’  arm}^  to  be  small,  un¬ 
armed,  weak,  and  such  as  want  those  conveniences  whicli 
they  know  must  be  wanted,  when  it  is  God’s  will  that  they 
shall  be  beaten.  And  how  valuable  God’s  assistance  is,  they 
had  experienced  in  abundance  of  trials ;  and  those  such  as 

VOL.  {.  R 


19  4 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  III- 


were  not  terrible  in  war,  for  that  is  only  against  men,  but 
these  were  against  famine  and  thirst,  things  indeed  that  were 
in  their  own  nature  insuperable ;  as  also  against  mountains, 
and  that  sea  which  afforded  them  no  way  for  escaping  :  yet 
had  all  these  difficulties  been  conquered  by  God’s  gracious 
kindness  to  them.  So  he  exhorted  them  to  be  courageous  at 
this  time,  and  to  look  upon  their  entire  prosperity  to  depend 
on  the  present  contest  of  their  enemies. 

3.  And  with  these  words  did  Moses  encourage  the  rnulti- 
tude,  who  then  called  together  the  princes  of  their  tribes, 
and  their  chief  men,  both  separately  and  jointly.  The  young 
men  he  charged  to  obey  their  elders,  and  the  elders  to  heark¬ 
en  to  their  leader.  So  the  people  were  elevated  in  their 
minds,  and  ready  to  try  their  fortune  in  battle,  and  hoped  to 
be  thereby  at  length  delivered' from  all  their  miseries:  nay, 
they  desired  that  Moses  would  immediately  lead  them  against 
their  enemies,  without  the  least  delay,  that  no  backwardness 
might  be  an  hindrance  to  their  present  resolution.  So  Mo¬ 
ses  sorted  all  that  were  fit  for  war  into  different  troops  ;  and 
set  Joshua,  the  son  of  Nun,  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  over 
them  ;  one  that  was  of  great  courage,  and  patient  to  under¬ 
go  labours  ;  of  great  abilities  to  understand,  and  to  speak 
what  was  proper  ;  and  very  serious  in  the  worship  of  God  j 
and  indeed  made  like  another  Moses,  a  teacher  of  piety  to¬ 
wards  God.  He  also  appointed  a  small  party  of  the  armed 
men  to  be  near  the  water ;  and  to  take  care  of  the  children 
and  the  women,  and  of  the  entire  camp.  So  that  wdiole  night 
they  prepared  themselves  for  the  battle  :  they  took  then- 
weapons,  if  any  of  them  had  such  as  were  well  made,  and 
attended  to  their  commanders,  as  ready  to  rush  forth  to  the 
battle,  as  soon  as  Moses  should  give  the  word  of  command. 
Moses  also  kept  awake,  teaching  Joshua  after  what  manner 
he  should  order  his  camp.  But  when  the  day  began,  Moses 
called  for  Joshua  again,  and  exhorted  him  to  approve  himself 
in  deeds  such  an  one  as  his  reputation  made  men  expect  from 
him ;  and  to  gain  glory  by  the  present  expedition,  in  the 
opinion  of  those  under  him,  for  his  exploits  in  this  battle. 
He  also  gave  a  particular  exhortation  to  the  principal  men  of 
the  Hebrews,  and  encouraged  the  whole  army  as  it  stood 
armed  before  him.  And  when  he  had  thus  animated  the  ar¬ 
my,  both  by  his  words  and  works,  and  prepared  every  thing, 
he  retired  to  a  mountain,  and  committed  the  army  to  God  and 
Joshua. 

4.  So  the  armies  joined  battle  ;  and  it  came  to  a  close  fight 
hand  to  hand,  both  sides  showing  great  alacrity,  and  encour- 


195 


ehap.  II.  OF  THE  JEWS. 

aging  one  another.  And  indeed  while  Moses  ^stretched  out 
his  hands  towards  heaven,  the  Hebrews  were  too  hard  for 
the  Amalekites  :  but  Moses  not  being  able  to  sustain  his 
hands  thus  stretched  out,  (for  as  often  as  he  let  down  his 
hands,  so  often  were  his  own  people  worsted,)  he  bade  his 
brother  Aaron,  and  Hur,  their  sister  Miriam’s  husband,  to 
stand  on  each  side  of  him,  and  take  hold  of  his  hands,  and 
not  permit  his  weariness  to  prevent  it,  but  to  assist  him  in  the 
extension  of  his  hands.  When  this  was  done,  the  Hebrews 
conquered  the  Amalekites  by  main  force  ;  and  indeed  they 
had  all  perished,  unless  the  approach  of  the  night  had  obliged 
the  Hebrews  to  desist  from  killing  any  more.  So  our  fore¬ 
fathers  obtained  a  most  signal  and  a  most  seasonable  victory  ; 
for  they  not  only  overcame  those  that  fought  against  them, 
but  terrified  also  the  neighbouring  nations,  and  got  great  and 
splendid  advantages,  which  they  obtained  of  their  enemies  by 
their  hard  pains  in  this  battle ;  for  when  they  had  taken  the 
enemies’  camp,  the)-  got  ready  booty  for  the  public,  and  for 
their  own  private  families,  whereas  till  then  they  had  not  any 
sort  of  plenty,  of  even  necessary  food.  The  forementioned 
battle,  when  they  had  once  got  it,  was  also  the  occasion  of 
their  prosperity,  not  only  for  the  present,  but  for  the  future 
ages  also  ;  for  they  not  only  made  slaves  of  the  bodies  of  their 
enemies,  but  subdued  their  minds  also,  and,  after  this  battle, 
became  terrible  to  all  that  dwell  round  about  them.  More¬ 
over,  they  acquired  a  vast  quantity  of  riches  ;  for  a  great 
deal  of  gold  and  silver  was  left  in  the  enemies’  camp  ;  as  also 
brazen  vessels,  which  they  made  common  use  of  in  their  fa¬ 
milies  ;  many  utensils  also  that  were  embroidered,  there 
were  of  both  sorts,  that  is,  of  what  were  weaved  ;  and  what 
were  the  ornaments  of  their  armour,  and  other  things  that 
served  for  use  in  the  family,  and  for  the  furniture  of  their 
rooms  :  they  got  also  the  prey  of  their  cattle,  and  of  wliat- 


*  This  eminent  circumstance,  that  while  Moses’s  hands  were  lift  up 
towards  heaven,  the  Israelites  prevailed,  and  while  they  were  (el  down 
towards  the  earth,  the  Amalekites  prevailed,  seems  to  me  the  earliest 
intimation  vve  have  of  the  proper  posture,  used  of  old.  in  solemn  prayer; 
which  was  the  stretching  out  the  hand  [and  eyes]  towards  heaven,  as 
other  passages  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  inform  us.  Nay,  by  the 
way,  this  posture  seems  to  have  continued  in  the  Christian  Church,  till 
the  clergy,  instead  of  learning  their  prayers  by  heart,  read  them  out  of 
a  book,  which  is  in  a  great  measure  inconsistent  witidsueh  an  elevated 
posture,  and  which  seems  to  me  to  have  been  only  a  latter  practice  in¬ 
troduced  under  the  corrupt,  state  of  the  church,  though  the  constant  use 
of  divine  forms  of  prayer,  praise,  and  thanksgiving,  appears  to  me  to 
have  been  the  practice  of  God’s  people,  Patriarchs,  Jews,  and  Chris¬ 
tians,  in  all  tho  past  ages. 


1 96 


Book  11L 


ANTIQUITIES 

Soever  uses  to  follow  camps,  when  they  remove  from  one 
place  to  another.  So  the  Hebrews  now  valued  themselves 
Upon  their  courage,  and  claimed  great  merit  for  their  valour  ; 
and  they  perpetually  inured  themselves  to  take  pains,  by 
which  they  deemed  every  difficulty  might  be  surmounted. 
Such  were  the  consequences  of  this  battle. 

5.  On  the  next  day,  Moses  stripped  the  dead  bodies  ol 
iheir  enemies,  and  gathered  together  the  armour  of  those 
that  were  fled,  and  gave  rewards  to  such  as  had  signalized 
themselves  in  the  action  ;  and  highly  commended  Joshua 
their  general,  who  was  attested  to  by  all  the  army,  on  account 
of  the  great  actions  he  had  done.  Nor  was  any  one  of  the 
Hebrews  slain  ;  but  the  slain  of  the  enemies’  army  were  too 
many  to  be  enumerated.  So  Moses  offered  sacrifices  of 
thanksgiving  to  god,  and  built  an  altar,  which  he  named,  the 
Lord  the  conquer er.  He  also  foretold,  that  the  Amalekites 
should  utterly  be  destroyed  ;  and  that  hereafter  none  of  them 
should  remain,  because  they  fought  against  the  Hebrews,  and 
this  when  they  were  in  the  wilderness,  and  in  their  distress 
also.  Moreover,  he  refreshed  the  army  with  feasting.  And 
thus  did  they  fight  this  first  battle  with  those  that  ventured  to 
oppose  them,  after  they  were  gone  out  of  Egypt.  But,  when 
Moses  had  celebrated  this  festival  for  the  victory,  he  permit¬ 
ted  the  Hebrews  to  rest  for  a  few  days,  and  then  he  brought 
them  out  after  the  fight  in  order  of  battle  ;  for  they  had  now 
many  soldiers  in  light  armour.  And  going  gradually  on  he 
came  to  Mount  Sinai  in  three  month’s  time  after  they  were  re¬ 
moved  out  of  Egypt;  at  which  mountain,  as  we  have  before 
related,  the  vision  of  the  bush,  and  the  other  wonderful  ap¬ 
pearances,  had  happened. 


CHAP.  III. 

Chat  Moses  kindly  received  his  father-in-law  Jethro ,  when 
he  came  to  him  to  Mount  Sinai. 

Now  when  Raguel,  Moses’s  father-in-law,  understood  in 
tvhat  a  prosperous  condition  his  affairs  were,  he  willingly 
Came  to  meet  him  :  and  Moses  took  Zipporah  his  wife,  and 
his  children,  and  pleased  himself  with  his  coming.  And 
when  he  had  offered  sacrifice,  he  made  a  feast  for  the  multi¬ 
tude,  near  the  bush  he  had  formerly  seen  ;  which  multitude, 
every  one,  according  to  their  families,  partook  of  the  feast. 
But  Aaron  and  himself  took  Raguel,  and  sung  hymns  to  God 
as  to  him  who  had  been  the  author  and  procurer  of  their  de¬ 
liverance  and  their  freedom.  They  also  praised  their  con-* 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  IV. 


197 


ductor,  as  him  by  whose  virtue  it  was  that  all  things  had  suc¬ 
ceeded  so  well  with  them.  Raguel  also,  in  his  eucharistical 
oration  to  Moses,  made  great  encomiums  upon  the  whole 
multitude  :  and  he  could  not  but  admire  Moses  for  his  forti-* 
tilde,  and  that  humanity  .lie  had  showed  in  the  delivery  of  his 
friends. 


CHAP.  IV. 


How  Raguel  suggested  to  Moses  to  set  Ms  people  in  order , 
under  their  rulers  of  thousands,  and  rulers  of  hundreds , 
who  lived  without  order  before  :  and  how  Moses  complied 
in  all  things  icith  his  father-in-law’s  admonition. 

§  1.  The  next  day,  as  Raguel  saw  Moses  in  the  midst  of  a 
crowd  of  business, ,  for  he  determined  the  differences  of  those 
that  referred  them  to  him,  every  one  still  going  to  him,  and 
supposing  that  they  should  then  only  obtain  justice,  if  he  were 
the  arbitrator  ;  and  those  that  lost  their  causes,  thought  it  no 
great  harm  while  they  thought  they  lost  them  justly,  and  not 
by  partiality.)  Raguel,  however,  said  nothing  to  him  at  that 
time,  as  not  desirous  to  be  any  hindrance  to  such  as  had  a 
mind  to  make  use  of  the  virtue  of  their  conductor.  But  af¬ 
terward  he  took  him  to  himself,  and  when  he  had  him  alone, 
he  instructed  him  in  what  lie  ought  to  do  ;  and  advised  him  to 
leave  the  trouble  of  lesser  causes  to  others,  but  himself  to 
take  care  of  the  greater,  and  of  the  people’s  safety,  for  that 
certain  others  of  the  Hebrews  might  be  found,  that  were  fit 
to  determine  causes,  but  that  nobody  but  a  Moses  could  take 
care  of  the  safety  of  so  many  ten  thousands.  Be  not,  there¬ 
fore,  says  he,  insensible  of  thine  own  virtue,  and  what  thou 
hast  done  bv  ministering  unto  God  to  the  people’s  preserva¬ 
tion.  Permit,  therefore,  the  determination  of  common  causes 
to  be  done  by  others,  but  do  thou  reserve  thyself  to  the  at¬ 
tendance  on  God  only,  and  look  out  fot  methods  of  preserv¬ 
ing  the  multitude  from  their  present  distress.  Make  use  of 
the  method  1  suggest  to  you,  as  to  human  affairs  ;  and  take  a 
review  of  the  army,  and  appoint  chosen  rulers  over  tens  of 
thousands,  and  then  over  thousands  :  then  divide  them  into 
five  hundreds  ;  and  again  into  hundreds,  and  into  fifties  ;  and 
set  rulers  over  each  of  them,  who  may  distinguish  them  into 
thirties,  and  keep  them  in  order  ;  and  at  last  number  them  by 
twenties  and  by  tens  :  and  let  there  be  one  commander  over 
each  number,  to  be  denominated  from  the  number  of  those 
over  whom  they -are  rulers,  but  such  as  the  tvholc  multitude 
v  R  % 


198 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  III. 


have  tried  and  do  ^approve  of,  as  being  good  and  righteous 
men  ;  and  let  these  rulers  decide  the  controversies  they  liaVc 
one  with  another.  But  if  any  great  cause  arise,  let  them 
bring  the  cognizance  of  it  before  the  rulers  of  an  higher  dig¬ 
nity  ;  but  if  any  great  difficulty  arise,  that  is  too  hard  for  even 
their  determination,  let  them  send  it  to  thee.  By  these 
means  two  advantages  will  be  gained  ;  that  the  Hebrews  will 
have  justice  done  them  5  and  thou  wilt  be  able  to  attend  con¬ 
stantly  on  God,  and  procure  him  to  be  more  favourable  to  the 
people. 

2.  This  was  the  admonition  of  Raguel ;  and  Moses  receiv¬ 
ed  his  advice  very  kindly,  and  acted  according  to  his  sugges¬ 
tion.  Nor  did  he  conceal  the  invention  of  this  method,  nor 
pretend  to  it  himself,  but  informed  the  multitude  who  it  was 
that  invented  it  :  nay,  he  has  named  Raguel  in  the  books  he 
wrote,  as  the  person  who  invented  this  ordering  of  the  peo¬ 
ple,  as  thinking  it  right  to  give  a  true  testimony  to  worthy 
persons,  although  he  might  have  gotten  reputation  by  ascrib¬ 
ing  to  himself  the  inventions  of  other  men.  Whence  we  may 
learn  the  virtuous  disposition  of  Moses  :  but  of  such  his  dis¬ 
position,  we  shall  have  proper  occasion  to  speak  in  other 
places  of  these  books. 


CHAP.  V. 

How  Moses  ascended  up  to  Mount  Sinai ,  and  received  laws 
from  God,  and  delivered  them  to  the  Hebrews. 

§  1.  Now,  Moses  called  the  multitude  together,  and  told 
them,  that  he  was  going  from  them  unto  mount  Sinai  to  con¬ 
verse  with  God  ;  to  receive  from  him,  and  to  bring  back  with 
him  a  certain  oracle :  but  he  enjoined  them  to  pitch  their 
tents  near  the  mountain,  and  prefer  the  habitation  that  was 
nearest  to  God,  before  one  more  remote.  When  he  had  said 
this,  he  ascended  upto  mount  Sinai,  which  f  is  the  highest  of 

*  This  manner  of  electing  the  judges  and  officers  of  the  Israelites  by 
the  testimonies  and  suffrages  of  the  people,  before  they  were  ordained  by- 
God,  or  Moses,  deserves  to  be  carefully  noted,  because  it  was  the  pat¬ 
tern  of  the  like  manner  of  the  choice  and  ordination  of  Bishops,  Presby¬ 
ters,  and  Deacons,  in  the  Christian  church. 

f  Since  this  mountain  Sinai  is  here  said  to  be  the  highest  of  all  the 
mountains  that  are  in  that  couniri /,  it  must  be  that  now  cailed  St.  Katha¬ 
rine’s,  which  is  one-third  higher  than  (hat  within  a  mile  of  it,  now  called 
Sinai,  as  Mens.  Thevenot  informs  us.  Travels,  part  i.  ch  xxviii.  p.  IGS. 
The  other  name  of  it,  Iloreb,  is  never  used  by  Josephus;  and  perhaps 
was  its  name  among  the  Egyptians  only,  w  hence  the  Israelites  were  late¬ 
ly  come,  as  Sinai  was  its  name  among  the  Arabians,  Cauaanites,  and 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


199 


all  the  mountains  that  are  in  that  country,  and  is  not  only 
very  difficult  to  be  ascended  by  men,  on  account  of  its  vast 
altitude,  but  because  of  the  sharpness  of  its  precipices  also; 
nay,  indeed,  it  cannot  be  looked  at,  without  pain  of  the 
eyes:  and  beside  this,  it  was  terrible  and  inaccessible,  on 
account  of  the  rumour  that  passed  about,  that  God  dwelt 
there.  But  the  Hebrews  removed  their  tents,  as  Moses  had 
bidden  them,  and  took  possession  of  the  lowest  parts  of  the 
mountain;  and  were  elevated  in  their  minds,  in  expectation 
that  Moses  would  return  from  God  with  promises  of  the  good 
things  he  had  proposed  to  them  :  so  they  feasted,  and  waited 
for  their  conductor;  and  kept  themselves  pure  as  in  other 
respects,  and  not  accompanying  with  their  wives  for  three 
days,  as  he  had  before  ordered  them  to  do.  And  they  pray¬ 
ed  to  God,  that  he  would  favourably  receive  Moses  in  his  con¬ 
versing  with  him  ;  and  bestow  some  such  gift  upon  them  by 
which  they  might  live  well.  They  also  lived  more  plentiful¬ 
ly  as  to  their  diet;  and  put  on  their  wives  and  children  more 
ornamental  and  decent  clothing,  than  they  usually  wore. 

2.  So  they  passed  two  days  in  this  way  of  feasting;  but 
on  the  third  clay,  before  the  sun  was  up,  a  cloud  spread  it¬ 
self  over  the  w  hole  camp  of  the  Hebrews,  such  an  one  os  none 
had  before  seen,  and  encompassed  the  place  where  they  had 
pitched  their  tents  ;  and  while  all  the  rest  of  the  air  was 
clear,  there  came  strong  winds,  that  raised  up  large  showers 
of  rain,  which  became  a  mighty  tempest.  There  was  also 
such  lightning,  as  was  terrible  to  those  that  saw  it;  and  thun¬ 
der,  with  its  thunder-bolts  were  sent  down,  and  declared  God 
to  be  there  present  in  a  gracious  way  to  such  as  Moses  de¬ 
sired  he  should  be  gracious.  Now  as  to  these  matters,  every 
one  of  my  readers  may  think  as  he  pleases;  but  1  am  under 
a  necessity  of  relating  this  history  as  it  is  described  in  the  sa¬ 
cred  books.  This  sight,  and  the  amazing  sound  that  came 
to  their  ears  disturbed  the  Hebrews  to  a  prodigious  degree, 
for  they  were  not  such  as  they  were  accustomed  to ;  and 
then  the  rumour  that  was  spread  abroad,  how  God  frequent¬ 
ed  that  mountain  greatly  astonished  their  minds,  so  they  sor¬ 
rowfully  contained  themselves  within  their  tents,  as  both  sup¬ 
posing  Moses^p  be  destroyed  by  the  divine  wrath,  and  ex¬ 
pecting  the  like  destruction  for  themselves. 

.‘-i.  When  they  were  under  these  apprehensions,  Moses  ap- 

otlier  nation?.  Accordingly,  when  (\  Kings  ix.  8.)  tiie  scripture  says, 
that  Elijah  came  to  Horeb ,  the  mount  of  Cod,  Josephus  justly  says,  Antiq. 
U.  viii.  ch.  xiii.  §  7-  vol.  ii.  that  he  came  lo  the  mountain  called  Sinai,  and 
Jerom,  here  cited  by  Dr  Hudson,  says,  that  he  took  this  mountain  to 
have  two  names;  Sinai  and  Glionb.  See  No  min.  Heb.  p.427. 


-200 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  III . 


peared  as  joyful  and  greatly  exalted.  When  they  saw  him, 
they  were  freed  from  their  fear,  and  admitted  of  more  com¬ 
fortable  hopes  as  to  what  was  to  come.  The  air  also  was 
become  clear,  and  pure  of  its  former  disorders,  upon  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  Moses.  Whereupon  he  called  together  the  peo¬ 
ple  to  a  congregation,  in  order  to  their  hearing  what  God 
would  say  to  them :  and  when  they  were  gathered  together, 
he  stood  on  an  eminence,  whence  they  might  all  hear  him, 
and  said,  “  God  has  received  me  graciously,  O  Hebrews,  as 
he  has  formerly  done;  and  has  suggested  an  happy  method 
of  living  for  you,  and  an  order  of  political  government,  and 
is  now  present  in  the  camp  :  I,  therefore,  charge  you  for  his 
sake,  and  the  sake  of  his  works,  and  that  we  have  done  by 
bis  means,  that  you  do  not  put  a  low  value  on  what  I  am  go¬ 
ing  to  say,  because  the  commands  have  been  given  by  me 
that  now  deliver  them  to  you,  nor  because  it  is  the  tongue  of 
a  man  that  delivers  them  to  you  ;  but  if  you  have  a  due  regard 
to  the  great  importance  of  the  things  themselves,  you  will  un¬ 
derstand  the  greatness  of  him  w  hose  institutions  they  are,  and 
who  has  not  disdained  to  communicate  them  to  me  for  our  com¬ 
mon  advantage;  for  it  is  not  to  be  supposed,  that  the  author  of 
these  institutions  is  barely  Moses,  the  son  of  Amram  and  Jo- 
chebed,  but  he  who  obliged  the  Nile  to  run  bloody  for  your 
sakes,  and  tamed  the  haughtiness  of  the  Egyptians  by  various 
sorts  of  judgments:  he  who  provided  a  way  through  the 
sea  for  us :  he  who  contrived  a  method  of  sending  us  food 
from  heaven,  when  we  were  distressed  for  want  of  it:  he 
who  made  the  waters  to  issue  out  of  a  rock,  when  we  had 
very  little  of  it  before:  he  by  whose  means  Adam  was 
made  to  partake  of  the  fruits  both  of  the  land  and  of  the 
sea  :  he  by  whose  means  Noah  escaped  the  deluge :  he  by 
whose  means  our  forefather  Abraham,  of  a  wandering  pilgrim, 
was  made  the  heir  of  the  land  of  Canaan  :  he  by  whose  means 
Isaac  was  born  of  parents  who  were  very  old  :  he  by  whose 
means  Jacob  was  adorned  with  twelve  virtuous  sons  :  he  by 
whose  means  Joseph  became  a  potent  lord  over  the  Egyp¬ 
tians  :  he  it  is  who  conveys  these  instructions  to  you  by  me 
as  his  interpreter.  And  let  them  be  to  you  venerable,  and 
contended  for  more  earnestly  by  you  than  yo\y  own  children, 
and  your  own  wives;  for  if  you  will  follow  them,  you  will 
lead  an  happy  life  ;  you  will  enjoy  the  land  fruitful,  the  sea 
calm,  and  the  fruit  of  the  womb  born  complete,  as  nature  re¬ 
quires  :  you  w'ill  be  also  terrible  to  your  enemies :  for  I 
have  been  admitted  into  the  presence  of  God,  and  been  made 
a  hearer  of  his  incorruptible  voice ;  so  great  is  his  concern 
for  your  nation,  audits  duration.5’ 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


201 


Chap.  V. 


4.  When  he  had  said  this,  he  brought  the  people,  with  their 
wives  and  children,  so  near  the  mountain,  that  they  might 
hear  God  himself  speaking  to  them  about  the  precepts  which 
they  were  to  practise ;  that  the  energy  of  what  should  be 
spoken  might  not  be  hurt  by  its  utterance  by  that  tongue  of  a 
•man,  which  could  but  imperfectly  deliver  it  to  their  under¬ 
standing.  And  they  all  heard  a  voice  that  came  to  all  of  them 
from  above,  insomuch  that  not  one  of  these  words  escaped 
them,  which  Moses  wrote  in  two  tables  ;  which  it  is  not  *law- 
ful  for  us  to  set  dow’n  directly,  but  their  import  we  will  de¬ 
clare. 

5.  The  first  commandment  teaches  us,  that  there  is  but  one 
God,  and  that  we  ought  to  worship  him  only.  The  second 
commands  us  not  to  make  the  image  of  any  living  creature  to 
worship  it.  The  third,  that  we  must  not  swear  by  God  in  a 
false  matter.  The  fourth,  that  we  must  keep  the  seventh  day, 
by  resting  from  all  sorts  of  work.  The  fifth,  that  we  must  ho¬ 
nour  our  parents.  The  sixth,  that  we  must  abstain  from  mur¬ 
der.  The  seventh,  that  we  must  not  commit  adultery.  The 
eighth,  that  we  must  not  be  guilty  of  theft.  The  ninth,  that 
we  must  not  bear  false  witness.  The  tenth,  that  we  must  not 
admit  of  the  desire  of  any  thing  that  is  another’s. 

6.  Now  when  the  multitude  had  heard  God  himself  giving 
those  precepts  which  Moses  had  discoursed  of,  they  rejoiced 
at  what  was  said  ;  and  the  congregation  was  dissolved :  but 
on  the  following  days  they  came  to  his  tent,  and  desired  bim 
to  bring  them  besides  other  laws  from  God.  Accordingly,  he 
appointed  such  laws ;  and  afterward  informed  them  in  w  hat 
manner  they  should  act  in  all  cases ;  w  hich  laws  I  shall  make 
mention  of  in  their  proper  time  ;  but  I  shall  reserve  most  of 
those  laws  for  another  work,  and  make  there  a  distinct  ex¬ 
plication  of  them. 

7.  When  matters  were  brought  to  this  state,  Moses  went 
up  again  to  mount  Sinai,  of  which  he  had  told  them  before¬ 
hand.  He  made  his  ascent  in  their  sight ;  and  while  he  stay¬ 
ed  there  so  long  a  time,  for  he  was  absent  from  them  forty 
days,  fear  seized  the  Hebrews,  lest  Moses  should  have  come 
to  any  harm  ;  nor  was  there  any  thing  else  so  sad,  and  that  so 
much  troubled  them  as  this  supposal,  that  Moses  was  perish¬ 
ed.  Now  there  was  a  variety  in  their  sentiments  about  it, 


*  01  this  and  another  like  superstitious  notion  ot  the  Pharisees,  which 
Josephus  complied  with,  see  the  note  on  Antiq  B  ii  cb.  12.  §  4 

t  This  other  work  of  Josephus’s  here  referred  to,  seems  to  he  that 
which  does  not  appear  to  have  been  ever  published,  which  yet  he  in¬ 
tended  to  publish,  about  the  reasons  of  many  of  the  lows  of  Moses ;  of 
which  see  the  note  on  the  Preface,  §  4. 


202 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  111 


some  saying  that  he  was  fallen  among  wild  beasts,  and  those 
that  were  pi  this  opinion,  were  chiefly  such  as  were  ill-dis¬ 
posed  to  him ;  blit  others  saying,  that  he  was  departed  and 
gone  to  God;  but  the  wiser  sort  were  led  by  their  reason  to 
embrace  neither  of  those  opinions  with  any  satisfaction,  think¬ 
ing,  that  it  was  a  thing  that  sometimes  happens  to  men  to  fall 
among  wild  beasts,  and  perish  that  way,  so  it  was  probable 
enough  that  he  might  depart,  and  go  to  God,  on  account  of  his 
virtue,  they  therefore  were  quiet,  and  expected  the  event ; 
yet  were  they  exceeding  sorry  upon  the  supposal  that  they7 
were  deprived  of  a  governor  and  a  protector,  such  an  one  in¬ 
deed  as  they  could  never  recover  again  ;  nor  would  this  suspi¬ 
cion  give  them  leave  to  expect  any  comfortable  event  about 
this  man,  nor  could  they  prevent  their  trouble  and  melancho¬ 
ly  upon  this  occasion.  However  the  camp  durst  not  remove 
all  this  while,  because  Moses  had  bid  them  afore  to  stay7  there. 

8.  But  when  the  forty  days,  and  as  many  nights,  were  over. 
‘Moses  came  down,  having  tasted  nothing  of  food  usually  ap¬ 
pointed  for  the  nourishment  of  men.  His  appearance  filled 
the  army  with  gladness,  and  he  declared  to  them  what  care 
God  had  of  them,  and  by  what  manner  of  conduct  of  their 
lives  they  might  live  happily;  telling  them,  that  during  these 
days  of  his  absence,  he  had  suggested  to  him  also,  that  he 
would  have  a  tabernacle  built  for  him,  into  which  he  would 
descend  when  he  came  to  them  ;  and  how  we  should  carry  it 
about  with  us  when  we  remove  from  this  place ;  and  that 
there  would  be  no  longer  occasion  for  going  up  to  mount  Si¬ 
nai,  but  that  he  would  himself  come  and  pitch  his  tabernacle 
amongst  us,  and  be  present  at  our  prayers  ;  as  also,  that  the 
tabernacle  should  be  of  such  measure  and  constructions  as 
he  had  shown  him,  and  that  you  are  to  fall  to  the  work,  and 
prosecute  it  diligently.  When  he  had  said  this,  he  showed 
them  the  two  tables,  with  the  ten  commandments  engraven 
upon  them,  five  upon  each  table;  and  the  writing  was  by  the 
hand  of  God. 


CHAP.  VI. 

■Concerning  the  tabernacle  which  Moses  built  in  the  wilderness, 
for  the  honour  of  God ,  and  which  seemed  to  be  a  temple. 

§  1.  Hereupon  the  Israelites  rejoiced  at  what  they  had 
seen  and  heard  of  their  conductor,  and  were  not  wanting  in 
diligence  according  to  their  ability  ;  but  they  brought  silver, 
and  gold,  and  brass,  and  of  the  best  sorts  of  wood,  and  such  as 
would  not  at  all  decay  by  putrefaction  ;  camel’s  hair  also,  and 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


203 


Clap.  VI. 


sheep  skins,  some  of  them  dyed  of  a  blue  colour,  and  some 
of  a  scarlet;  some  brought  the  flower  for  the  purple  colour, 
and  others  for  white ;  with  the  wool  dyed  by  the  flowers 
aforementioned ;  and  fine  linen,  and  precious  stones,  which 
those  that  use  costly  ornaments  set  in  couches  of  gold  ;  they 
brought  also  a  great  quantity  of  spices;  for  of  these  materials 
did  Moses  build  the  tabernacle,  which  did  not  at  all  differ  from 
a  moveable  and  ambulatory  temple.  Now  when  these  things 
were  brought  together  with  great  diligence,  for  every  one 
was  ambitious  to  further  the  work,  even  beyond  the>r  ability, 
he  set  architects  over  the  works,  and  this  by  the  command  of 
God  ;  and  indeed  the  very  same  which  the  people  them¬ 
selves  would  have  chosen,  had  the  election  been  allowed  to 
them.  Now  there  names  are  set  down  in  writing  in  the  sa¬ 
cred  books ;  and  they  were  these,  Resaleel  the  son  of  Uri, 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  grand-son  of  Miriam,  the  sister  of 
their  conductor ;  and  Alioliah,  the  son  of  Ahisamach,  of  the 
tribe  of  Dan.  Now  the  people  went  on  with  what  they  had 
undertaken  with  so  great  alacrity,  that  Moses  was  obliged  to 
restrain  them,  by  making  proclamation,  that  what  had  been 
brought  was  sufficient,  as  the  artificers  had  informed  him. 
So  they  fell  to  work  upon  the  building  of  the  tabernacle. 
Moses  also  informed  them,  according  to  the  direction  of  God, 
both  what  the  measures  were  to  be,  and  its  largeness ;  and 
how  many  vessels  it  ought  to  contain  for  the  use  of  the  sacrifi¬ 
ces.  The  women  also  were  ambitious  to  do  their  parts  about 
the  garments  of  the  priests,  and  about  other  things  that  would 
be  wanted  in  this  work,  both  for  ornament,  and  for  the  divine 
service  itself. 

2.  Now  when  all  these  things  were  prepared,  the  gold,  and 
the  silver,  and  the  brass,  and  what  was  wroven,  Moses,  when  he 
had  appointed  beforehand  that  there  should  be  a  festival,  and 
that  sacrifices  should  be  offered  according  to  every  one’s 
ability,*  reared  up  the  tabernacle.  And  when  he  had  mea¬ 
sured  the  open  court,  fifty  cubits  broad,  and  an  hundred  long, 
'lie  set  up  brazen  pillars,  five  cubits  high,  twenty  on  each  of 
the  longer  sides,  and  ten  pillars  for  the  breadth  behind ; 
every  one  of  the  pillars  also  had  a  ring.  Their  chapiters 
were  of  silver,  but  their  bases  were  of  brass ;  they  resem¬ 
bled  the  sharp  ends  of  spears,  and  were  of  brass;  fixed  into 
the  ground.  Cords  were  also  put  through  the  rings,  and 
wore  tied  at  their  farther  ends  to  brass  nails  of  a  cubit  long., 
which  at  every  pillar  were  driven  into  the  floor,  and  would 
keep  the  tabernacle  from  being  shaken  by  the  violence  of 

*  Of  this  tabernacle  of  Moses,  with  its  several  parts  and  furniture,  see 
»ny  description  at  large,  ch.  vi.  vii.  vifi.  ix.  s.  xi.  xii,  hereto  belonging 


204 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  III. 


winds.  But  a  curtain  of  fine  soft  linen  went  around  all  the 
pillars,  and  hung  down  in  a  flowing  and  loose  manner  from 
their  chapiters,  and  enclosed  the  whole  space,  and  seemed  not 
at  all  unlike  to  a  wall  about  it.  And  this  was  the  structure  of 
three  of  the  sides  of  this  enclosure.  But  as  for  the  fourth 
side,  which  was  fifty  cubits  in  extent,  and  was  the  front  of  the 
whole,  twenty  cubits  of  it  weie  for  the  opening  at  the  gates, 
wherein  stood  two  pillars  on  each  side,  after  the  resemblance 
of  open  gates,  these  where  made  wholly  of  silver,  and  polish¬ 
ed,  and  that  all  over,  excepting  the  bases,  which  were  of 
brass.  Now  on  each  side  of  the  gates  there  stood  three 
pillars,  which  were  inserted  into  the  concave  bases  of  the 
gates,  and  were  suited  to  them ;  and  round  them  was  drawn 
a  curtain  of  fine  linen.  But  to  he  gates  themselves,  which 
were  twenty  cubits  in  extent,  and  five  in  height,  the  curtain 
Was  composed  of  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  blue,  and  fine  linen, 
and  embroidered  with  many  and  divers  sorts  of  figures,  ex¬ 
cepting  the  figures  of  animals.  Within  these  gates  was  the 
brazen  laver  for  purification,  having  a  bason  beneath,  of  the 
like  matter,  whence  the  priests  might  wash  their  hands,  and 
sprinkle  their  feet.  And  this  was  the  ornamental  construc¬ 
tion  of  the  enclosure  about  the  court  of  the  tabernacle, 
which  was  exposed  to  the  open  air. 

3.  As  to  the  tabernacle  itself,  Moses  placed  it  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  that  court,  with  its  front  to  the  east,  that  when  the 
sun  arose  it  might  send  its  first  rays  upon  it.  Its  length,  when 
it  was  set  up,  was  thirty  cubits,  and  its  breadth  was  twelve 
[ten]  cubits.  The  one  of  its  walls  was  on  the  south,  and 
the  other  was  exposed  to  the  north,  and  on  the  back  part  of 
it  remained  the  west.  It  was  necessary  that  its  height  should 
be  equal  to  its  breadth  [ten  cubits.]  There  weye  also  pil¬ 
lars  made  of  wood,  twenty  on  each  side  ;  they  were  wrought 
into  a  quadrangular  figure,  in  breadth  a  cubit  and  an  half,  but. 
fhe  thickness  was  four  fingers  :  they  had  thin  plates  of  gold 
affixed  to  them  on  both  sides,  inwardly  and  outwardly :  they 
had  each  of  them  two  tenons  belonging  to  them  inserted  in 
their  bases,  and  these  were  of  silver ;  in  each  of  which 
bases  there  was  a  socket  to  receive  the  tenon.  But  the 
pillars  on  the  west  wall  were  six.  Now  all  these  tenons 
and  sockets  accurately  fitted  one  another,  insomuch  that 
the  joints  were  invisible,  and  both  seemed  to  be  one  entire 
and  united  wall.  It  was  also  covered  with  gold  both  within 
and  without.  The  number  of  pillars  was  equal  on  the  oppo¬ 
site  sides,  and  there  were  on  each  part  twenty,  and  every  one 
of  them  had  the  third  part  of  a  span  in  thickness;  so  that 
the  number  of  thirty  cubits  w-cre  fully  made  up  between  them. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


205 


Chap.  VI. 

Cut  as  to  the  wall  behind,  where  the  six  pillars  made  up  to¬ 
gether  only  nine  cubits,  they  made  two  other  pillars,  and  cut 
them  out  of  one  cubit,  which  they  placed  in  the  corners  and 
made  them  equally  fine  with  the  other.  Now  every  one  of 
the  pillars  had  rings  o  '  gold  affixed  to  their  fronts  outward,  as 
if  they  had  taken  root  in  the  pillars,  and  stood  one  row  over 
against  another  round  about,  through  which  were  inserted  bars 
girt  over  with  gold,  each  of  them  five  cubits  long,  and  these 
bound  together  the  pillars,  the  head  of  one  bar  running  into 
another,  after  the  nature  of  one  tenon  inserted  into  another. 
But  for  the  wall  behind,  there  was  but  one  row  of  bars  that 
went  through  all  the  pillars,  into  which  row  ran  the  ends  of 
the  bars  on  each  side  of  the  longer  walls,  the  male  with  its  fe¬ 
male  being  so  fastened  in  their  joints,  that  they  held  the  whole 
firmly  together  ;  and  for  this  reason  was  all  this  joined  so  fast 
together,  that  the  tabernacle  might  not  be  shaken,  either  by 
the  winds,  or  by  any  other  means,  but  that  it  might  preserve 
itself  quiet  and  immoveable  continually. 

4.  As  for  the  inside,  Moses  parted  its  length  into  three  par¬ 
titions.  At  the  distance  of  ten  cubits  from  the  most  secret 
end,  Moses  placed  four  pillars,  whose  workmanship  ivas  the 
very  same  with  that  of  the  rest;  and  they  stood  upon  the  like 
bases  with  them,  each  a  small  matter  distant  from  his  fellow. 
Now  the  room  within  those  pillars  was  the  Most  Holy  Place  ; 
but  the  rest  of  the  room  was  the  Tabernacle,  which  was  open 
for  the  priests.  However,  this  proportion  of  the  measures 
of  the  tabernacle  proved  to  be  an  imitation  of  the  system  of 
the  world  ;  for  that  third  part  thereof  which  was  within  the 
four  pillars,  to  which  the  priests  were  not  admitted,  is,  as  it 
were,  an  heaven,  peculiar  to  God  :  but  the  space  of  the  twen¬ 
ty  cubits,  is,  as  it  were,  sea  and  land,  on  which  men  live,  and 
so  this  part  is  peculiar  to  the  priests  only.  But  at  the  front, 
where  the  entrance  was  made,  they  placed  pillars  of  gold, 
that  stood  on  bases  of  brass,  in  number  seven  ;  but  then  they 
spread  over  the  tabernacle  veils  of  fine  linen,  and  purple, 
and  blue,  and  scarlet  colours,  embroidered.  The  first  vail 
was  ten  cubits  every  way,  and  this  they  spread  over  the  pil¬ 
lars  which  parted  the  temple,  and  kept  the  most  holy  place 
concealed  within  ;  and  this  vail  was  that  which  made  this 
part  not  visible  to  any.  Now  the  whole  temple  was  called 
The  Holy  Place  ;  but  that  part  which  was  within  the  four  pil¬ 
lars,  and  to  which  none  were  admitted,  was  called  The  Holy 
of  Holies.  This  vail  was  very  ornamental,  and  embroidered 
with  all  sorts  of  flowers  which  the  earth  produces  ;  and  there 
were  interwoven  into  it  all  sorts  of  variety  that  might  be  an 
ornament,  excepting  the  forms  of  animals.  Another  vail 
VOL.  j.  S 


Booh  lit 


206  ANTIQUITIES 

there  was  which  covered  the  five  pillars  that  were  at  the  en¬ 
trance  :  it  was  like  the  former  in  its  magnitude,  and  texture, 
and  colour  ;  and  at  the  corner  of  every  pillar  a  ring  retained 
it  from  the  top  downwards,  half  the  depth  of  the  pillars,  the 
other  half  affording  an  entrance  for  the  priests,  who  crept  un¬ 
der  it.  Over  this  there  was  a  vail  of  linen,  of  the  same  large¬ 
ness  with  the  former  ;  it  was  to  be  drawn  this  way  or  that 
way  by  cords,  whose  rings  fixed  to  the  texture  of  the  vail 
and  to  the  cords  also,  were  subservient  to  the  drawing  and 
undrawing  of  the  vail,  and  to  the  fastening  it  at  the  corner, 
that  then  it  might  be  no  hindrance  to  the  view  of  the  sanctu¬ 
ary,  especially  on  solemn  days .  But  that  on  other  days, 
and  especially  when  the  weather  was  inclined  to  snow,  it 
might  be  expanded,  and  afford  a  covering  to  the  vail  of  di¬ 
verse  colours  :  whence  that  custom  of  ours  is  derived,  of 
having  a  fine  linen  vail,  after  the  temple  has  been  built,  to  be 
drawn  over  the  entrances.  But  the  ten  other  curtains  were 
four  cubits  in  breadth,  and  twrenty-eight  in  length,  and  had 
golden  clasps,  in  order  to  join  the  one  curtain  to  the  other, 
which  was  done  so  exactly,  that  they  seemed  to  be  one  entire 
curtain  ;  these  were  spread  over  the  temple,  and  covered  all 
<the  top,  and  parts  of  the  walls,  on  the  sides  and  behind,  so  far 
as  within  one  cubit  of  the  ground.  There  were  other  curtains 
of  the  same  breadth  with  these,  but  one  more  in  number,  and 
longer,  for  they  were  thirty  cubits  long ;  but  these  were  wov¬ 
en  of  hair,  with  the  like  subtility  as  those  of  wool  were  made, 
and  were  extended  loosely  down  to  the  ground,  appearing 
'like  a  triangular  front  and  elevation  at  the  gates  ;  the  eleventh 
curtain  being  used  for  this  very  purpose.  There  were  also 
other  curtains  made  of  skins  above  these,  which  afforded  cov¬ 
ering  and  protection  to  those  that  were  woven,  both  in  hot 
weather,  and  when  it  rained.  And  great  was  the  surprise  of 
those  who  viewed  these  curtains  at  a  distance,  for  they  seemed 
not  at  all  to  differ  from  the  colour  of  the  sky.  But  those  that 
were  made  of  hair,  and  of  skins,  reached  down  in  the  same 
manner  as  did  the  vail  at  the  gates,  and  kept  off  the  heat  of 
the  sun,  and  what  injury  the  rains  might  do.  And  after  this 
manner  was  the  tabernacle  reared. 

5.  There  was  also  an  ark  made,  sacred  to  God,  of  wood, 
that  was  naturally  strong,  and  could  not  be  corrupted  ;  this 
was  called  Eron,  in  our  own  language.  Its  construction  was 
thus :  its  length  was  five  spans,  but  its  breadth  and  height 
were  each  of  them  three  spans :  it  was  covered  all  over  with 
gold,  both  within  and  without,  so  that  the  wooden  part  was 
not  seen.  It  had  also  a  cover  united  to  it  by  golden  hinges, 
after  a  wonderful  manner  :  which  cover  was  every  way  even' 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


207 


Chap.  VI. 

ty  fitted  to  it,  and  had  no  eminences  to  hinder  its  exact  con¬ 
junction.  There  were  also  two  golden  rings  belonging  to  each 
of  the  longer  boards,  and  passing  through  the  entire  wood,  and 
through  them  gilt  bars  passed  along  each  board,  that  it  might 
thereby  be  moved  and  carried  about,  as  occasion  should  re¬ 
quire  ;  for  it  was  not  drawn  in  a  cart  by  beasts  of  burden,  but 
borne  on  the  shoulders  of  the  priests.  Upon  this  its  cover 
were  two  images,  which  the  Hebrews  call  Cherubim ;  they 
are  flying  creatures,  but  their  form  is  not  like  to  that  of  any 
of  the  creatures  which  men  have  seen,  though  Moses  said 
he  had  seen  such  beings  near  the  throne  of  God.  In  this 
ark  he  put  the  two  tables  whereon  the  ten  commandments 
were  written,  five  upon  each  table,  and  two  and  an  half  upon 
each  side  of  them  :  and  this  ark  he  placed  in  the  most  holy 
place. 

6.  But  in  the  holy  place  he  pkced  a  table,  like  those  at 
Delphi :  its  length  was  two  cubits,  and  its  breadth  one  cubit, 
and  its  height  three  spans.  It  had  feet  also,  the  lower  half 
of  which  were  complete  feet,  resembling  those  which  the 
Dorians  put  to  their  bed-steads,  but  the  upper  parts  towards 
the  table  were  brought  into  a  square  form.  The  table  had 
an  hollow  towards  every  side,  having  a  ledge  of  four  fingers 
depth,  that  went  round  about  like  a  spiral,  both  on  the  upper 
and  lower  part  of  the  body  of  the  work.  Upon  every  one 
of  the  feet  was  there  also  inserted  a  ring,  not  far  from  the 
cover,  through  which  went  bars  of  wood  beneath,  but  gilded, 
to  be  taken  out  upon  occasion,  there  being  a  cavity  where  it 
is  joined  to  the  rings  ;  for  they  were  not  entire  rings,  but  be¬ 
fore  they  came  quite  round,  they  ended  in  acute  points,  the 
one  of  which  was  inserted  into  the  prominent  part  of  the  ta¬ 
ble,  and  the  other  into  the  foot  ;  and  by  these  it  was  carried 
when  they  journeyed.  Upon  this  table,  which  was  placed 
on  the  north  side  of  the  temple,  not  far  from  the  most  holy 
place,  were  laid  twelve  unleavened  loaves  of  bread,  six  upon 
each  heap,  one  above  another;  they  were  made  of  two  tenth 
deals  of  the  purest  flower,  which  tenth  deal  [an  homer]  is  a 
measure  of  the  Hebrews,  containing  seven  Athenian  cotylae ; 
and  above  these  loaves  were  put  two  vials  full  of  frankin¬ 
cense.  Now  after  seven  days  other  loaves  were  brought  in 
their  stead,  on  the  day  which  is  by  us  called  the  Sabbath  ;  for 
we  call  the  seventh  day  the  Sabbath  ;  but  for  the  occasion  of 
this  invention  of  placing  loaves  here,  we  will  speak  to  it  in 
another  place. 

7.  Over  against  this  table,  near  the  southern  wall,  was  a 
set  candlestick  of  cast  gold,  hollow  within,  being  of  the  weight 
of  one  hundred  pounds,  which  the  Hebrews  call  cinchareQ  ; 


208 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  III 


if  it  be  turned  into  the  Greek  language  denotes  a  talent.  It 
was  made  with  its  knops,  and  lilies,  and  pomegranates,  and 
bowls,  (which  ornaments  amounted  to  seventy  in  all ;)  by 
which  means  the  shaft  elevated  itself  on  high  from  a  single 
base,  and  spread  itself  into  as  many  branches  as  there  are 
planets,  including  the  sun  among  them.  It  terminated  in  seven 
heads,  in  one  row,  all  standing  parallel  to  one  another  j  and 
these  branches  carried  seven  lamps,  one  by  one,  in  imitation 
of  the  number  of  the  planets  :  these  lamps  looked  to  the  east 
and  to  the  south,  the  candlestick  being  situate  obliquely. 

8.  Now  between  this  candlestick  and  the  table,  which,  as 
we  said,  were  within  the  sanctuary',  was  the  altar  of  incense, 
made  of  wood  indeed,  but  of  the  same  wood  of  which  the  fore¬ 
going  vessels  were  made,  such  as  were  not  liable  to  corrup¬ 
tion  :  it  was  entirely  crusted  over  with  a  golden  plate.  Its 
breadth  on  each  side  was  a  cubit,  but  the  altitude  double. 
Upon  it  was  a  grate  of  gold,  that  was  extant  above  the  altar, 
which  had  a  golden  crown  that  encompassed  it  around  about, 
whereto  belonged  rings  and  bars,  by  which  the  priests  car¬ 
ried  it  when  they  journeyed.  Before  this  tabernacle  there 
was  reared  a  brazen  altar,  but  it  was  within  made  of  wood, 
five  cubits  by  measure  on  each  side,  but  its  height  was  but 
three,  in  like  manner  adorned  with  brass  plates  as  bright  as 
gold.  It  had  also  a  brazen  hearth  of  net-work,  for  the  ground 
underneath  received  the  fire  from  the  hearth,  because  it  had 
no  basis  to  receive  it.  Hard  by  this  altar  lay  the  basons,  and 
the  vials,  and  the  censers,  and  the  caldrons,  made  of  gold  ; 
but  the  other  vessels,  made  for  the  use  of  the  sacrifices,  were 
all  of  brass.  And  such  was  the  construction  of  the  taberna¬ 
cle  ;  and  these  were  the  vessels  thereto  belonging. 


chap.  vii. 

Winch  were  the  garments  of  the  Priests,  and  of  the  Iligh- 
Priest ;  concerning  the  priesthood  of  Aaron,  with  the 
manner  of  the  purifications  and  sacrifices  ;  as  also  con¬ 
cerning  the  festivals,  and  how  each  day  was  then  disposed 
of ;  with  other  laws. 

§  1.  There  were  peculiar  garments  appointed  for  the 
priests,  and  for  all  the  rest,  which  they  call  Cahanaeac 
[  priestly]  garments,  as  also  for  the  high-priest’s  which  they 
call  Cahanaeae  Rahhae,  and  denote  the  high-priest’s  garments. 
Such  was,  therefore,  the  habit  of  the  rest.  But  when  the 
priest  approaches  the  sacrifices,  he  purifies  himself  with  the 
purification  which  the  law  prescribes  :  and  in  the  first  place. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


209 


Chap.  VII. 

he  puts  on  that  which  is  called  Machaiiase,  which  means 
somewhat  that  is  fas*,  tied.  It  is  a  girdle  composed  of  line 
twined  linen,  and  is  put  about  the  privy  parts,  the  feet  being 
to  be  inseited  into  them  in  the  nature  of  breeches,  but  above 
half  of  it  is  cut  off,  and  it  ends  at  the  thighs,  and  is  there 
tied  fast. 

2.  Over  this  he  wore  a  linen  vestment,  made  of  fine  flax 
doubled  ;  it  is  called  Chet  hone ,  and  denotes  linen,  for  we  call 
linen  by  the  name  of  Chet  hone.  This  vestment  reaches  down 
•to  the  feet,  sits  close  to  the  body  ;  and  has  sleeves  that  are 
tied  fast  to  the  arms  ;  it  is  girded  to  the  breast  a  little  above 
the  elbows,  by  a  girdle  often  going  round,  four  fingers  broad, 
but  so  loosely  woven,  that  you  would  think  it  were  the  skin 
of  a  serpent.  It  is  embroidered  with  flowers  of  scarlet,  and 
purple,  and  blue,  and  fine  twined  linen,  but  the  warp  was 
nothing  but  line  linen.  The  beginning  of  its  circumvolution 
is  at  the  breast,  and  when  it  has  gone  often  round  it,  is  there 
tied,  and  hangs  loosely  there  down  to  the  ankles  $  I  mean 
this,  all  the  time  the  priest  is  not  about  any  laborious  service, 
for  in  this  position  it  appears  in  the  most  agreeable  manner 
to  the  spectators  ;  but  when  he  is  obliged  to  assist  at  the  of¬ 
fering  sacrifices,  and  to  do  the  appointed  service,  that  he 
may  not  be  hindered  in  his  operations  by  its  motion,  he 
throws  it  to  the  left,  and  bears  it  on  his  shoulder.  Moses 
indeed  calls  this  belt  Abancth  ;  but  we  have  learned  from  the 
Babylonians  *o  call  it  Etnia ,  for  so  it  is  by  them  called.  This 
vestment  has  no  loose  or  hollow  parts  any  where  in  it,  but 
only  a  narrow  aperture  about  the  neck  ;  and  it  is  tied  with 
certain  strings  hanging  down  from  the  edge  over  the  breast 
and  back,  and  is  fastened  above  each  shoulder  ;  it  is  called 
Massabazanes. 

3.  Upon  his  head  he  wears  a  cap,  not  brought  to  a  conic 
form,  nor  encircling  the  whole  head,  but  still  covering  more 
than  the  half  of  it,  which  is  called  Masnaemphthes  :  and  its 
make  is  such,  that  it  seems  to  be  a  crown,  being  made  of 
thick  swathes,  but  the  contexture  is  of  linen  ;  and  it  is  dou¬ 
bled  round  many  times,  and  sewed  together:  besides  which, 
a  piece  of  fine  linen  covers  the  whole  cap  from  the  upper  part, 
and  reaches  down  to  the  forehead,  and  hides  the  seams  of  the 
swathes,  which  would  otherwise  appear  indecently ;  this  ad¬ 
heres  closely  upon  the  solid  part  of  the  head,  and  is  hitherto 
so  {irmly  fixed,  that  it  may  not  fall  off  during  the  sacred  ser¬ 
vice  about  the  sacrifices.  So  we  have  now  showed  you  what 
fs  the  habit  of  the  generality  of  the  priests. 

4.  The  high-priest  is  indeed  adorned  with  tire  same  gar¬ 
ments  that  we  have  described,  without  abating  one,  only  over 

«  2 


210 


Book  III. 


ANTIQUITIES 

these  he  puts  on  a  vestment  of  a  blue  colour.  This  also  is  a 
long  robe,  reaching  to  his  feet :  in  our  language  it  is  called 
Mceir,  and  is  tied  round  with  a  girdle,  embroidered  with  the 
same  colours  and  flowers  as  the  former,  with  a  mixture  of 
gold  interwoven.  To  the  bottom  of  which  garment  are  hung 
fringes,  in  colour  like  pomegranates,  with  golden  #bells  by 
n  curious  and  beautiful  contrivance  ;  so  that  between  two 
bells  hang  a  promegranate,  and  between  two  pomegranates  a 
bell.  Now  this  vesture  was  not  composed  of  two  pfeces,  nor 
was  it  sewed  together  upon  the  shoulders  and  the  sides,  but 
it  was  one  long  vestment  so  woven  as  to  have  an  aperture  for 
the  neck  ;  not  an  oblique  one,  but  parted  all  along  the  breast 
and  the  back.  A  border  also  was  sewed  to  it,  lest  the  aper¬ 
ture  should  look  too  indecently  :  it  was  also  parted  where  the 
hands  were  to  come  out. 

5.  Besides  these,  the  high-priest  put  on  a  third  garment, 
which  was  called  the  Ephod,  which  resembles  the  Epomis  of 
the  Greeks.  Its  make  was  after  this  manner  :  it  was  woven 
to  the  depth  of  a  cubit,  of  several  colours,  with  gold  inter¬ 
mixed  and  embroidered,  but  it  left  the  middle  of  the  breast 
uncovered  :  it  was  made  with  sleeves  also  ;  nor  did  it  appear 
to  be  at  all  differently  made  from  a  short  coat.  But  in  the 
void  place  of  this  garment  there  was  inserted  a  piece  of  the 
bigness  of  a  span,  embroidered  with  gold,  and  the  other  co¬ 
lours  of  the  ephod,  and  is  called  Essen  [the  Breast-plate ,1 
which,  in  the  Greek  language,  signifies  the  Oracle.  This 
piece  exactly  filled  up  the  void  space  in  the  ephod.  It  is 
united  to  it  by  golden  rings  at  every  corner,  the  like  rings 
being  annected  to  the  ephod,  and  a  blue  ribband  was  made  use 
of  to  tie  them  together  by  those  rings  ;  and  that  the  space 
between  the  rings  might  not  appear  empty,  they  contrived 
to  fill  it  up  with  stitches  of  blue  ribbands.  There  were  also 
two  sardonyxes  upon  the  ephod,  at  the  shoulders,  to  fasten  it, 


*  The  use  of  these  golden  beds,  at  the  bottom  of  the  high-priest’s 
long garment,  seems  to  me  to  have  been  (his:  that  by  shaking  it  is  gar¬ 
ment,  at  the  time  of  his  offering  incense  iri  (lie  temple,  on  the  great  day 
of  expiation,  or  at  other  proper  periods  of  his  sacred  administrations 
t  here,  on  the  great  festivals,  the  people  might  have  notice  of  it,  and  might 
Sail  to  their  own  prayers  at  the  time  of  incense,  or  other  proper  periods ; 
and  so  the  whole  congregation  might  at  once  offer  those  common  prayers 
jointly  with  tiie  high-priest  himself  to  the  Almighty.  See  Luc.  i.  10. 
Apoc<  viii.  3,  4.  Nor  probably  is  the  father  of  Sirach  to  be  otherwise 
understood,  when  be  says  of  Aaron,  the  first  high-priest.  Eccles.  xlv.  9. 
And  God  encompassed  Aaron  with  pomegranates,  and  with  many  golden 
hells  round  about,  that  as  he  went,  there  might  be  asovnd,  and  a  noise  made 
ihat  might  be  heard  in  flic  temple ,  for  a  memorial  to  the  children  of  Itis 
people. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


21 1 


Chap .  VII. 

in  the  nature  of  buttons,  having  each  end  running  to  the  sar- 
donyxes  of  gold,  that  they  might  be  buttoned  by  them.  On 
these  were  engraven  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  in  our 
own  country  letters,  and  our  own  tongue,  six  on  each  of  the 
stones,  on  either  side;  and  the  elder  sons’  names  were  on  the 
right  shoulder.  Twelve  stones  also  there  were  upon  the 
breast-plate,  extraordinary  in  largeness  and  beauty  ;  and  they 
were  an  ornament  not  to  be  purchased  by  men,  because  of 
their  immense  value.  These  stones  however,  stood,  in  three 
row's,  by  four  in  a  row,  and  were  inserted  into  the  breast¬ 
plate  itself,  and  they  were  set  in  ouches  of  gold,  that  were 
themselves  inserted  in  the  breast-plate,  and  w  ere  so  made 
that  they  might  not  fall  out.  Now  the  first  three  stones 
were,  a  sardonyx,  a  topaz,  and  an  emerald.  The  second  row 
contained  a  carbuncle,  a  jasper,  and  a  sapphire.  The  first 
of  the  third  row  was  a  figure,  then  an  amethyst  and  the  third 
an  agate,  being  the  ninth  of  the  whole  number.  The  first 
of  the  fourth  row  was  a  chrysolite,  the  next  was  an  onyx, 
and  then  a  beryl,  which  was  the  last  of  all.  Now  the  names 
of  all  those  sons  of  Jacob  were  engraven  in  these  stones, 
w  hom  we  esteem  the  heads  of  our  tribes,  each  stone  having 
the  honor  of  a  name,  in  the  order  according  to  w  hich  they 
were  born.  And  whereas  the  rings  were  'oo  weak  of  them¬ 
selves  to  bear  the  weight  of  the  stones,  they  made  two  other 
rings  of  a  larger  size,  at  the  edge  of  that  part  of  the  breast¬ 
plate,  which  reached  to  the  neck,  and  inserted  into  the  very 
texture  of  the  breast-plate,  to  receive  chains  finely  wrought, 
which  connected  them  with  golden  bands  to  the  tops  of  the 
shoulders,  whose  extremity  turned  backwards,  and  went  into 
the  ring,  on  the  prominent  back  part  of  the  ephod ;  and  this 
was  for  the  security  of  the  breast-plate,  that  it  might  not  fall 
out  of  its  place.  There  was  also  a  girdle  sewed  to  the 
breast-plate  which  wras  of  the  forementioned  colours,  with 
gold  intermixed,  w  hich  when  it  had  gone  once  round,  was  tied 
again  upon  the  seam,  and  hung  down.  There  w'ere  also  gol¬ 
den  loops  that  admitted  its  fringes  at  each  extremity  of  the 
girdle  and  included  them  entirely. 

6.  The  hierh  priest’s  mitre  was  the  same  that  we  described 
before,  and  was  wrought  like  that  of  all  the  other  priests : 
above  which  there  was  another,  with  swathes  of  blue  em¬ 
broidered,  and  round  it  was  a  golden  crown  polished,  of 
three  row's  one  above  another;  out  of  which  arose  a  cup  of 
gold,  which  resembled  the  herb  which  wre  call  Saccharus , 
but  those  Greeks  that  are  skilful  in  botany  call  it  Hyoscyanws. 
Now  lest  any  one  that  has  seen  this  herb,  but  has  not  been 
taught  its  name,  and  is  unacquainted  with  its  nature,  or  hav- 


•212 


Book  III. 


ANTIQUITIES 

ing  known  its  name,  knows  not  the  herb  when  he  sees  it,  I 
shall  to  such  give  a  description  of  it.  This  herb  is  oftentimes 
in  tallness  above  three  spans,  but  its  root  is  like  that  of  a 
turnip,  (for  he  that  should  compare  it  thereto  would  not  be 
mistaken,)  but  its  leaves  are  like  to  the  leaves  of  mint.  Out 
of  its  branches  it  sends  out  a  calyx,  cleaving  to  the  branch, 
and  a  coat  encompasses  it,  which  it  naturally  puts  of!  when 
it  is  changing,  in  order  to  produce  its  fruit.  This  calyx  is 
of  the  bigness  of  the  bone  of  the  little  finger,  but  in  the  com¬ 
pass  of  its  aperture  is  like  a  cup.  This  I  will  farther  de¬ 
scribe  for  the  use  of  those  that  are  unacquainted  with  it.  Sup¬ 
pose  a  sphere  be  divided  into  two  parts,  round  at  the  bottom, 
but  having  another  segment  that  grows  up  to  a  circumference 
from  that  bottom  :  suppose  it  become  narrower  by  degrees, 
and  that  the  cavity  of  that  part  grow  decently  smaller,  ,and 
then  gradually  grow  wider  again  at  the  brim,  such  as  we  see 
in  the  naval  of  a  pomegranate,  with  its  notches.  And  indeed 
such  a  coat  grows  over  this  plant  as  renders  it  an  hemis¬ 
phere,  and  that  as  one  may  say,  turned  accurately  in  a  lathe, 
and  having  its  notches  extant  above  it,  which,  as  I  said,  grow 
like  a  pomegranate,  only  that  the}'  are  sharp,  and  end  in  no¬ 
thing  but  prickles.  Now  the  fruit  is  preserved  by  this  coat  of 
the  calyx,  which  fruit  is  like  the  seed  of  the  herb  sideritis : 
it  sends  out  a  flower  that  may  seem  to  resemple  that  of  poppy. 
Of  this  was  a  crowm  made,  as  far  as  from  the  hinder  part  of 
the  head  to  each  of  the  temples  ;  but  this  ephielis,  for  so  this 
calyx  may  be  called,  did  not  cover  the  forehead,  but  it  was 
covered  with  a  *golden  plate,  which  had  inscribed  upon  it 
the  name  of  God,  in  sacred  characters.  And  such  were  the 
ornaments  of  the  high-priest. 

7.  Now  here  one  may  wonder  at  the  ill-will  which  men 
bear  to  us,  and  which  they  profess  to  bear  on  account  of  our 
despising  that  Deity  which  they  pretend  to  honour :  for  if 
any  one  do  but  consider  the  fabric  of  the  tabernacle,  and  take 
a  view  of  the  garments  of  the  high-priest,  and  of  those  ves¬ 
sels  which  we  make  use  of  in  our  sacred  ministration,  he  will 
find  that  our  legislator  was  a  divine  man,  and  that  we  are  iln- 
justly  reproached  by  others;  for  if  any  one  do,  without  pre¬ 
judice,  and  with  judgment,  look  upon  these  things,  he  will 
find  they  were  every  one  made  in  Way  of  imitation  and  repre- 

*  The  reader  ought  to  lake  notice  here,  that  the  very  Mosaic  pc- 
ledon,  or  golden  plate,  for  the  forehead  of  the  Jewish  high-priest,  was  it¬ 
self  preserved,  not  only  tili  Ihe  days  of  Josephus,  but  of  Origen ;  and  that 
its  inscription,  Holiness  to  the  Lofd ,  was  in  the  Samaritan  characters. 
See  Antiq.  B.  viii.  ch.  iii  §  8  vol.  ii.JEj$ay  on  the  Old  Test.  p.  154.  anS 
Itfetand,  De  Spo!.  Tempi!,  p.  432-. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


213 


Chap.  VII. 

sentation  of  the  universe.  When  Moses  distinguished  the 
tabernacle  into  *three  parts  and  allowed  two  of  them  to  the 
priests,  as  a  place  accessible  and  common,  he  denoted  the 
land  and  the  sea,  these  being  of  general  access,  to  all ;  but  he 
set  apart  the  third  division  for  God,  because  heaven  is  inac¬ 
cessible  to  men.  And  when  he  ordered  twelve  loaves  to  be 
set  on  the  table,  he  denoted  the  year,  as  distinguished  into  so 
many  months.  By  branching  out  the  candlestick  into  seven¬ 
ty  parts  he  secretly  intimated  the  decani ,  or  seventy  divi¬ 
sions  of  the  planets  ;  and  as  to  the  seven  lamps  upon  the  can¬ 
dlesticks,  they  referred  to  the  course  of  the  planets,  of  which 
that  is  the  number.  The  vails  too,  which  were  composed  of 
four  things,  they  declared  the  four  elements  :  for  the  fine 
linen  was  proper  to  signify  the  earth,  because  the  tlax  grows 
out  of  the  earth.  The  purple  signifies  the  sea,  because  that 
colour  is  dyed  by  the  blood  of-  a  sea  shell-fish.  The  blue  is 
fit  to  signify  the  air  :  and  the  scarlet  will  naturally  be  an  in¬ 
dication  of  fire.  Now  the  vestment  of  the  high-priest  being 
made  of  linen,  signified  the  earth  ;  the  blue  denoted  the  sky, 
being  like  lightning  in  its  pomegranates,  and  in  the  noise  of 
the  bells  resembling  thunder.  And  for  the  ephod,  it  showed, 
that  God  had  made  the  universe  of  four  [elements;]  and  as 
for  the  gold  interwoven,  I  suppose  it  related  to  the  splendour 
by  which  all  things  are  enlightened.  He  also  appointed  the 
breast-plate  to  be  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  ephod,  to  re-, 
semble  the  earth,  for  that  has  the  very  middle  place  of  the 
world.  And  the  girdle  which  encompassed  the  high-priest 
round,  signified  the  ocean,  for  that  goes  round  about  and  in¬ 
cludes  the  universe.  Each  of  the  sardonyxes  declares  to  us 
the  sun  anti  the  moon,  those,  I  mean,  that  were  in  the  nature 
of  buttons  on  ihe  high-priests  shoulders.  And  for  the  twelve 
stones,  whether  we  understand  by  them  the  months,  or  whe¬ 
ther  we  understand  the  like  number  of  the  signs  of  that  circle 
which  the  Greeks  call  the  Zodiac ,  we  shall  not  be  mistaken 
in  their  meaning.  And  for  the  mitre,  which  was  of  a  blue 
colour,  it  seems  to  me  to  mean  heaven  ;  for  how  otherwise 
could  the  name  of  God  be  inscribed  upon  it  ?  That  it  was  al¬ 
so  illustrated  with  a  crown,  and  that  of  gold  also,  is  because 


*  When  Josephus,  both  here  and  ch.  vi.  §  4,  supposes  the  tabernacle 
to  have  been  parted  into  three  parts.-  he  seems  to  esteem  the  bare  en¬ 
trance  t'i  be  a  third  division,  distinct  from  the  holy  and  the  most  holy 
places  ;  and  this  the  lather,  because  in  the  temple  afterward  there  was 
a  real  distinct  third  part,  which  was  called  the  Porch,  otherwise  Jose¬ 
phus  would  contradict  his  own  description  of  the  tabernacle,  which 
gives  us  a  particular  account  of  no  more  than  two  parts. 


214 


ANTIQUITIES  Book  III , 

of  that  splendour  with  which  God  is  pleased.  Let  this*  ex¬ 
plication  suffice  at  present,  since  the  course  of  my  narration 
will  often,  and  on  many  occasions,  afford  me  the  opportunity 
of  enlarging  on  the  virtue  of  our  legislator. 


CHAP.  VIII. 

Of  the  priesthood  of  Aaron. 

§  1.  When  what  has  been  described  was  brought  to  a  con¬ 
clusion,  gifts  not  being  presented,  God  appeared  to  Moses,  and 
enjoined  him  to  bestow  the  high-priesthood  upon  Aaron  his 
brother,  as  upon  him  that  best  of  them  all  deserved  to  obtain 
that  honour,  on  account  of  his  virtue.  And  when  he  had 
gathered  the  multitude  together,  he  gave  them  an  account  of 
Aaron’s  virtue,  and  of  his  good-will  to  them,  and  of  the  dan¬ 
gers  he  had  undergone  for  their  sakes.  Upon  which,  when 
they  had  given  testimony  to  him  in  all  respects,  and  had  show¬ 
ed  their  readiness  to  receive  him,  Moses  said  to  them,  uO 
you  Israelites,  this  work  is  already  brought  to  a  conclusion, 
in  a  manner  most  acceptable  to  God,  and  according  to  our 
abilities.  And  now  since  you  see  that  he  is  received  into  this 
tabernacle,  we  shall  first  of  all  stand  in  need  of  one  that  may 
officiate  for  us,  and  may  minister  to  the  sacrifices,  and  to  the 
prayers  that  are  to  be  put  up  for  us.  And  indeed,  had  the  in¬ 
quiry  after  such  a  person  been  left  to  me,  I  should  have 
thought  myself  worthy  of  this  honour,  both  because  all  men 
are  naturally  fond  of  themselves,  and  because  I  am  conscious 
to  myself  that  I  have  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains  for  your  de¬ 
liverance  ;  but  now  God  himself  has  determined  that  Aaron 


*  This  explication  of  the  mystical  meaning  of  the  Jewish  tabernacle, 
and  its  vessels,  a  ith  the  garments  oi  the  high-priest,  is  taken  out  of  Phi¬ 
lo,  and  tilted  to  Gentile  philosophical  notions  This  may  possibly  be 
forgiven  in  Jews,  greatly  versed  in  heathen  learning  and  philosophy, 
as  Philo  had  ever  been,  and  as  Josephus  had  long  been,  when  lie  wrote 
these  Antiquities.  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted,  but  in  their 
education  they  must  have  both  learned  more  Jewish  interpretations, 
Such  as  we  meet  with  in  the  epistle  of  Barnabas  in  that  to  the  Hebrews, 
and  elsewhere  among  the  old  Jews.  Accordingly,  when  Josephus  wrote 
bis  books  of  the  Jewish  War,  for  the  use  of  the  Jews,  at  which  time  lie 
was  comparatively  young,  and  less  used  to  Gentile  books,  we  find  one 
specimen  of  such  a  Jewish  interpretation  ;  for  there  (B.  vii.  ch.  v.  §  5. 
vol  vi.)  he  makes  the  seven  branches  of  the  temple  candlesticks,  with 
(heir  seven  lamps,  an  emblem  of  the  seven  days  of  creation  and  rest, 
which  were  here  emblems  of  the  seven  planets.  Nor  certainly  ought 
ancient  Jewish  emblems  to  be  explained  any  otherwise,  than  according 
to  ancient  Jewish  and  not  Gentile  notions.  See  of  the  War,  £.  i.  clt. 
SSxHi.  §  3,  vol.  v. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap  VII 


2W 


is  worthy  of  this  honour,  and  has  chosen  him  for  his  priest, 
as  knowing  him  to  be  the  most  righteous  person  among  you  ; 
so  that  he  is  to  put  on  the  vestments  which  are  consecrated 
to  God  ;  he  is  to  have  the  care  of  the  altars,  and  to  make  pro¬ 
vision  for  the  sacrifices ;  and  he  it  is  that  must  put  up  prayers 
for  you  to  God,  will  readily  hear  them,  not  only  because  he 
is  himself  solicitous  for  your  nation,  but  also  because  he  will 
receive  them  as  offered  by  one  that  he  hath  himself  chosen 
to  this  office.*”  The  Hebrews  were  pleased  with  what  was 
said,  and  they  gave  their  approbation  to  him  whom  God  had 
ordained ;  for  Aaron  was  of  them  all  the  most  deserving  of 
this  honour,  on  account  of  his  own  stock  and  gift  of  prophecy, 
and  his  brother’s  virtue.  He  had  at  that  time  four  sons,  Na- 
dab,  Abihu,  Eleazer,  and  Ithamar. 

2.  Now  Moses  commanded  them  to  make  use  of  all  the 
Utensils  which  were  more  than  were  necessary  to  the  struc¬ 
ture  of  the  tabernacle,  for  covering  the  tabernacle  itself,  the 
candlestick,  and  altar  of  incense,  and  the  other  vessels,  that 
they  might  not  be  at  all  hurt  when  the}  journeyed,  either  by 
the  rain,  or  by  the  rising  of  the  dust.  And  when  he  had  ga¬ 
thered  the  multitude  together  again,  he  ordained  that  they 
should  offer  half  a  shekel  for  every  man  as  an  oblation  to 
God ;  which  shekel  is  a  piece  among  the  Hebrews,  and  is 
equal  to  tfour  Athenian  drachmae.  Whereupon  they  readi¬ 
ly  obeyed  what  Moses  had  commanded;  and  the  number  of 
the  offerers  was  six  hundred  and  five  thousand,  five  hundred 
and  fifty.  Now  this  money  that  was  brought  by  the  men  that 
were  free,  was  given  by  such  as  were  above  twenty  years 
old,  but  under  fifty ;  and  what  was  collected  was  spent  in  the 
Uses  of  the  tabernacle. 

3.  Moses  now  purified  the  tabernacle,  and  the  priests; 
which  purification  was  performed  afterthe  following  manner  : 

*  It  is  well  worth  ourobservation,  (hat  thetwo  principal  qualifications 
required  in  this  section,  for  the  constitution  of  the  first  high-priest,  viz. 
that  he  should  have  an  excel \ent  character  for  virtuous  and  good  actions; 
as  also  that  he  should  have  the  approbation  of  the  people,  are  here  noted 
fry  Josephus,  even  wherethe  nomination  belonged  to  God  himself,  which 
are  the  very  same  qualifications  which  the  Christian  religion  requires  in 
the  choice  of  Christian  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  as  the  Apostolical 
Constitutions  inform  us,  B.  ii.  cli  iii. 

t  This  weight  and  value  of  the  Jewish  shekel,  in  the  days  of  Jose¬ 
phus,  equal  to  about  2s.  10d.  sterling,  is  by  the  learned  Jewsowned  to  be 
one-fifth  larger  than  were  theirold  shekels  ;  which  determination  agrees 
perfectly  with  the  remaining  shekels  that  have  Samaritan  inscriptions, 
coined  generally  by  Simon  the  Maccabee,  about  220  years  before  Jose¬ 
phus  published  his  Antiquities,  which  never  weigh  more  than  2s.  4d. 
halfpenny,  and  commonly  but  2s.  4d,  Cartlling.  See  Reland.,  DeJYum- 
mis  Samaritanorum,  p.  188.. 


216 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  III. 


he  commanded  them  to  take  five  hundred  shekels  of  choice 
myrrh,  an  equal  quantity  of  cassia,  and  have  the  foregoing 
weight  of  cinnamon  and  calamus,  (this  last  is  a  sort  of  sweet 
spice,)  to  beat  them  small,  and  wet  them  with  an  hin  of  oil 
of  olives,  (an  hin  is  our  own  country  measure,  and  contains 
two  Athenian  choas  or  conguises,)  then  mix  them  together, 
and  boil  them,  and  prepare  them  after  the  art  of  the  apothe¬ 
cary,  and  make  them  into  a  very  sweet  ointment ;  and  after¬ 
ward  to  take  it  to  anoint  and  to  purify  the  priests  themselves, 
and  all  the  tabernacle,  as  also  the  sacrifices.  There  were 
also  many,  and  those  of  various  kinds  of  sweet  spices,  that 
belonged  to  the  tabernacle,  and  such  as  were  of  very  great 
price,  and  were  brought  to  the  golden  altar  of  incense; 
whose  nature  I  do  not  now  describe,  lest  it  shold  be  trouble¬ 
some  to  my  readers.  But*  incense  was  to  be  offered  twice 
a  day,  both  before  sun-rising  and  at  sun  setting.  They  were 
also  to  keep  oil  already  purified  for  the  lamps;  tthree  of 
which  were  to  give  light  all  da}'  long,  upon  the  sacred  can¬ 
dlestick,  before  God,  and  the  rest  were  to  be  lighted  at  the 
evening. 

4.  Now  all  was  finished,  Besaleel  and  Aholiah  appeared 
to  be  the  most  skilful  of  the  workmen  ;  for  they  invented 
finer  works  than  what  others  had  done  before  them,  and  were 
of  great  abilities  to  gain  notions  of  what  they  were  formerly 
ignorant  of;  and  of  these  Bezaleel  was  judged  to  be  the  best. 
Now  the  whole  time  they  were  about  this  work  was  the  in¬ 
terval  of  seven  months  ;  and  after  this  it  was  that  was  ended 
the  first  year  since  their  departure  out  of  Egypt.  But  at  the 
beginning  of  the  second  year,  on  the  month  Xanthicus,  as 
the  Macedonians  call  it,  but  on  the  month  Nisan,  as  the  He¬ 
brews  call  it,  on  the  new  moon,  they  consecrated  the  taber¬ 
nacle  and  all  its  vessels,  which  I  have  already  described. 

5.  Now  God  showed  himself  pleased  with  the  work  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  did  not  permit  their  labours  to  be  in  vain; 
nor  did  he  disdain  to  make  use  of  what  theyr  had  made,  but 
he  came  and  sojourned  with  them,  and  pitched  his  tabernacle 
in  the  holy  house.  And  in  the  following  manner  did  he  come 
to  it :  the  sky  was  clear,  but  there  was  a  mist  over  the  ta¬ 
bernacle  only,  encompassing  it,  but  not  with  such  a  very 


*  This  incense  was  here  offered,  according  to  Josephus's  opinion,  he* 
fore  sun  rising,  and  at  sun-setting.  But  in  the  days  oi’Pompey,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  same  Josephus,  the  sacrifices  were  offered  in  the  morning,  and 
at  the  ninth  hour.  Antiq.  B.  xiv.  ch.  iv.  §  3.  vol.  iii. 

t  Hence  we  may  correct  the  opinions  of  the  modern  Rabbins,  who 
say,  thal  only  one  of  the  seven  lamps  burned  in  the  day  time,  whereas 
our  Josephus,  an  eye-witness,  says  there  were  three. 


21? 


Chap.  VIII.  OF  THE  JEWS. 

deep  and  thick  cloud  as  is  seen  in  the  winter  season,  nor  yet 
in  so  thin  an  one  as  men  might  be  able  to  discern  any  thing 
through  it ;  but  from  it  there  dropped  a  sweet  dew,  and  such 
as  showed  the  presence  of  God  to  those  that  desired  and  be¬ 
lieved  it. 

6.  Now  when  Moses  had  bestowed  such  honorary  pre¬ 
sents  on  the  workmen,  as  it  was  fit  they  should  receive,  who 
had  wrought  so  well,  he  offered  sacrifices  in  the  open  court 
of  the  tabernacle,  as  God  commanded  him,  a  bull,  a  ram,  and 
a  kid  of  the  goats,  for  a  sin-offering.  Now  I  shail  speak  of 
what  we  do  in  our  sacred  offices  in  my  discourse  about  sa¬ 
crifice  ;  and  therein  shall  inform  men  in  what  cases  Moses  bid 
us  offer  a  whole  burnt-offering,  and  in  what  cases  the  law 
permits  us  to  partake  of  them  as  of  food.  And  when  Moses 
had  sprinkled  Aaron’s  vestments  himself,  and  his  soys,  with 
the  blood  of  the  beasts  that  were  slain,  and  had  purified  them 
with  spring  waters,  and  ointment,  they  became  God’s  priests. 
After  this  manner  did  he  consecrate  them,  and  their  garments, 
for  seven  days  together.  The  same  he  did  to  the  taberna¬ 
cle,  and  the  vessels  thereto  belonging,  both  with  oil  first  in¬ 
censed,  as  I  said,  and  with  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  rams, 
slain,  day  by  day  one,  according  to  its  kind.  But  on  the  eighth 
day  he  appointed  a  feast  for  the  people,  and  commanded  them 
to  offer  sacrifice  according  to  their  ability.  Accordingly, 
they  contended  one  with  another,  and  were  ambitious  to  ex¬ 
ceed  each  other  in  the  sacrifices  which  they  brought,  and  so 
fulfilled  Moses’s  injunctions.  But  as  the  sacrifices  lay  upon 
the  altar,  a  sudden  fire  was  kindled  from  among  them,  of  its 
own  accord,  and  appeared  to  the  sight  like  fire  from  a  flash 
of  lightning,  and  consumed  whatsoever  was  upon  the  altar. 

7-  Hereupon  an  affliction  befel  Aaron,  considered  as  a  man 
and  a  father,  but  was  undergone  by  him  with  true  fortitude ; 
for  he  had  indeed  a  firmness  of  soul  in  such  accidents,  and  he 
thought  this  calamity  came  upon  him  according  to  God’s  will : 
for  whereas  he  had  four  sons,  as  I  said  before,  the  two  elder 
of  them,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  did  not  bring  those  sacrifices 
which  Moses  bade  them  bring,  but  which  they  used  to  offer 
formerly,  and  were  burnt  to  death.  Now  when  the  fire  rush¬ 
ed  upon  them,  and  began  to  burn  them,  nobody  could  quench 
it.  Accordingly,  the}'  died  in  this  manner.  And  Moses  bid 
their  father,  and  their  brethren,  to  take  up  their  bodies,  to 
carry  them  out  of  the  camp,  and  to  bury  them  magnificently. 
Now  the  multitude  lamented  them,  and  were  deeply  affected 
at  this  their  death,  which  so  unexpectedly  befel  them.  But 
Moses  entreated  their  brethren,  and  their  father,  not  to  be 
troubled  for  them,  and  to  prefer  their  honour  of  God  before 

VOL.  I.  T 


218  ANTIQUITIES  Book  III 

their  grief  about  them ;  for  Aaron  had  already  put  on  his  sa¬ 
cred  garments. 

8.  But  Moses  refused  all  that  honour  which  he  saw  the 
multitude  ready  to  bestow  upon  him,  and  attended  to  nothing 
else  but  to  the  service  of  God  He  went  no  more  up  to 
mount  Sinai ;  but  he  went  into  the  tabernacle,  and  brought 
back  answers  to  God  for  what  he  prayed  for.  His  habit  was 
also  that  of  a  private  man;  and  in  all  other  circumstances  he 
behaved  himself  like  one  of  the  common  people,  and  was 
desirous  to  appear  without  distinguishing  himself  from  the 
multitude,  but  would  have  it  known  that  he  did  nothing  else 
but  take  care  of  them.  He  also  set  down  in  writing  the  form 
of  their  government,  and  those  laws,  by  obedience  whereto, 
they  would  lead  their  lives  so  as  to  please  God,  and  so  as  to 
have  no  quarrels  among  one  another.  However,  the  laws  he 
ordained  were  such  as  God  suggested  to  him ;  so  I  shall  now 
discourse  concerning  that  form  of  government,  and  those 
laws. 

9.  I  will  now  treat  ef  what  1  before  omitted,  the  garment 
of  the  high-priest :  for  he  [Moses]  left  no  room  for  the  evil 
practices  of  [false]  prophets  ;  but  if  some  of  that  sort  should 
attempt  to  abuse  the  divine  authority,  he  Heft  it  to  God  to 

i  be  present  at  his  sacrifices  when  he  pleased,  and  when  he 
pleased  to  be  absent.  And  he  was  willing  this  should  be 
known,  not  to  the  Hebrews  only,  but  to  those  foreigners  also 
who  were  there.  For  as  to  those  stones,  f which  we  told 

*  Of  t his  strange  expression,  that  Moses  left  it  to  God  to  be  present  at 
bis  sacrifices  when  he  pleased,  and  when  he  pleased  to  be  absent,  see  the 
note  on  B  ii.  against  Apion,  §  16.  vol.  vi. 

t  These  answers  by  the  oracle  of  Urirn  and  Thummim,  which  words 
signify  light  and  perfection,  or  as  the  Sepluagint  render  them,  revelation 
and  truth,  and  denote  nothing  further,  that  I  see,  but  the  shining  stones 
themselves,  which  were  used  in  this  method  of  illumination,  in  revealing 
thewiliof  God,  after  a  perfect  and  true  manner,  to  hispeople  Israel,  I  say 
these  answers  were  not  made  by  the  shining  of  the  precious  stones,  after 
an  awkward  manner,  in  the  high  priest’s  breast-plate,  as  the  modern 
Rabbins  vainly  suppose  ;  for  certainly  the  shining  of  the  stones  might 
precede  or  accompany  the  oracle  without  itself  delivering  that  oracle, 
(SeeAntiq.  B.  vi.  ch.  vi.  §  4.  vol.  ii  )  but  rather  by  an  audible  voice 
frem  the  mercy-seat  between  the  cherubim.  See  Prideaux’s  Connect,  at 
the  year  534  This  oracle  had  been  silent,  as  Josephus  here  informs  us, 
two  hundred  years  before  he  wrote  his  Antiquities  or  ever  since  the  days 
of  the  last  good  high  priest  of  the  Maccabees,  John  Hyrcanus.  Now,  it 

ii  here  very  well  worth  our  observation,  that  the  oracle  before  us  was 
that  by  which  God  appeared  to  be  present  with,  and  gave  directions  to 
his  people  Israel  as  their  king,  all  the  while  they  submitted  to  him  in  that 
capacity  ;  and  did  notset  over  them  such  independent  kings  as  govern¬ 
ed  according  to  their  own  will  and  political  maxims,  instead  of  divine  di¬ 
rections.  Accordingly,  we  meet  with  this  oracle,  (besides  angelic  and 
prophetic  admonitions^)  all  along  front  the  days  of  Mo.ses  and  Joshua  t«* 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap,  VIII. 


2iy 


you  before,  the  high-priest  bare  on  his  shoulders,  which  were 
sardonyxes,  (and  1  think  it  needless  to  describe  their  nature, 
they  being  known  to  every  body ;)  the  one  of  them  shined 
out  when  God  was  present  at  their  sacrifices,  1  mean  that 


the  anointing  of  Saul,  the  first  of  the  succession  of  kings,  Numb,  xxvii 
21.  Jos.  vi.  6,  &.c.  xix  50.  Judges!,  l.xviii.4 — 6,  30,  31.  xx  18,  23,  26> 
27,  28.  xxi.  I,  &c  1  Sam.  i.  17,  18.  iii.  per  lot.  iv.  per  lot.  nay,  till  Saul’s 
rejection  of  the  divine  commands  in  the  war  with  Amalek,  when  he 
took  upon  him  to  act  as  he  thought  fit,  1  Sam.  xiv  3,  18.  19,  36,  37, 
then  this  oracle  left  Saul  entirely,  (which  indeed  he  had  seldom  consult¬ 
ed  before,  1  Sam  xiv.  35.  1  Chron.  x.  14.  xiii.  3.  Antiq.  B.  vii.  ch.  iv.  §  2. 4 
vol.  ii.)  and  accompanied  David,  who  was  anointed  to  succeed  him, 
and  who  consulted  God  by  it  frequently,  and  complied  with  its  direc¬ 
tions  constantly  1  Sam.  xiv  37,41.xv  26.  xxii  13,  15.  xxiii.  9.  10.  xxx. 
7,  8,  18.  2  Sam  ii.  1  v.  19,  23.  xxi.  1.  xxiii.  14.  1  Chron.  xiv  10,  14.  An¬ 
tiq.  B.  vi.  c.  xii.  §  5  vol.  ii  Saul,  (ndeed,  long  after  his  rejection  by  God, 
and  when  God  had  given  him  up  to  destruction  for  his  disobedience,  did 
once  afterwards  endeavour  to  consult  God  when  it  was  too  late  ;  but 
God  would  not  (hen  answer  him,  neither  by  dreams ,  nor  by  urim,  nor 
by  prophets,  ISam  xxviii  6.  Nor  did  any  of  David’s  successors,  the  kings 
of  Judah,  that  we  know  of,  consult  God  by  this  oracle,  till  the  very 
Babylonish  captivity  itself,  when  those  kings  were  at  an  end,  they  tak¬ 
ing  upon  them,  I  suppose,  too  much  of  despotic  power  and  royalty,  and 
too  little  owning  the  God  of  Israel  for  the  supreme  King  of  Israel,  though 
a  few  of  them  consulted  (he  prophets  sometimes,  and  were  answered 
by  them.  At  the  return  of  the  two  tribes  w  ithout  the  return  of  kingly 
government,  the  restoration  of  Ibis  oracle  was  expected.  Nell,  vii-  63, 

1  Esd.  v.  40  1  Macc.  iv.  46  xiv.  11.  And  indeed  it  may  seem  to  have 
been  restored  for  some  time  after  the  Babylonish  captivity,  at  least  in 
the  days  of  that  excellent  high-priest  John  Hyrcanus,  whom  Josephus 
esteemed  as  a  king,  a  priest,  and  a  prophet;  and  who,  he  says,  foretold 
several  things  that  came  to  pass  accordingly  ;  but  about  the  time  of  his 
death,  here  implies,  that  this  oracle  ceased  quite,  and  not  before  The 
following  high  priests  now  putting  diadems  on  their  heads,  and  ruling 
according  to  their  own  will,  and  by  their  own  authority,  like  the  other 
kings  of  the  Pagan  countries  about  them  ;  so  that  W'bile  the  God  of  Isra¬ 
el  was  allowed  to  he  llte  supreme  king  of  Israel,  and  his  directions  to  be 
their  authentic' guides,  God  gave  them  such  directions,  as  their  supreme 
King  and  Governor  ;  and  they  were  properly  under  a  theocracy,  by  this 
oracle  of  Urim,  but  no  longer,  (see  Dr.  Bernard’s  notes  here,)  though  I 
confess  lean  not  but  esteem  the  high- priest  Jaddus’s  divine  dream,  Antiq. 
B.  xi.  cb.  vii i.  §  4.  vol  ii.  and  the  high-priest  Caiphas’s  most  remarkable 
prophecy,  John  xi  47 — 51.  as  two  small  remains  or  specimens  of  this  an¬ 
cient  oracle,  which  properly  belonged  to  the  Jewish  high-priest;  norper- 
haps  ought  we  entirely  to  forget  that  eminent  prophetic  dream  of  our  Jo¬ 
sephus  himself,  (one  next  to  an  high-priest,  as  of.the  family  of  the  As- 
monasans  or  Maccabees,)  as  to  the  succession  of  Vespasian  and  Titus  to 
the  Roman  empire,  and  that  in  the  days  of  Nero,  and  before  either  Gal- 
ha,  Otho,  or  Vitellius,  were  thought  of  to  succeed  him.  Ofthe  War,  B. 
iii,  ch.  viii.  §  9.  vol  v.  This,  I  think,  may  well  be  looked  upon  as  the 
very  Inst  instance  of  any  thing  like  the  prophetic  Urim  among  the  Jewr- 
ish  nation,  and  just  preceded  their  fatal  desolation  :  but  howT  it  could 
possibly  come  to  pass,  that  such  great  men  as  Sir  John  Marsham  and 
f)v.  Spencer,  should  imagine  that  this  oracle  of  Urim  aud  Thummim } 


Book  III 


220  ANTIQUITIES 

which  was  in  the  nature  of  a  button  on  his  right  shoulder* 
bright  rays  darting  out  thence,  and  being  seen  even  by  those 
that  were  most  remote;  which  splendour  yet  was  not  before 
natural  to  the  stone.  This  has  appeared  a  wonderful  thing 
to  such  as  have  not  so  far  indulged  themselves  in  philosophy, 
as  to  despise  divine  revelation.  Yet  will  I  mention  what  is 
still  more  wonderful  than  this ;  for  God  declared  beforehand, 
by  those  twelve  stones  which  the  high-priest  bare  on  his 
breast,  and  which  were  inserted  into  his  breast-plate,  when 
they  should  be  victorious  in  battle  ;  for  so  great  a  splendour 
shone  forth  from  them  before  the  army  began  to  march,  that 
all  the  people  were  sensible  of  God’s  being  present  for  their 
assistance.  Whence  it  came  to  pass  that  those  Greeks,  who 
had  a  veneration  for  our  laws,  because  they  could  not  possi- 
ply  contradict  this,  called  their  breast-plate  the  Oracle.  Now 
this  breast-plate,  and  this  sardonyx,  left  off  shining  two  hun¬ 
dred  years  before  I  composed  this  book,  God  having  been 
displeased  at  the  transgression  of  his  laws.  Of  which  things 
we  shall  further  discourse  on  a  fitter  opportunity ;  but  1  will 
now  go  on  wi&h  my  proposed  narration. 

10.  The  tabernacle  being  now  consecrated,  and  a  regular 
order  being  settled  for  the  priests,  the  multitude  judged  that 
God  now  dwelt  among  them,  and  betook  themselves  to  sacri¬ 
fices.  a»d  nraises  to  God.  as  bvi”"  HCV.'  delivered  from  all  ex- 
pectation  of  evils,  and  as  entertaining  an  hopeful  prospect  oi 
better  times  hereafter.  They  offered  also  gifts  to  God,  some 
as  common  to  the  whole  nation,  and  others  as  peculiar  to 
themselves,  and  these  tribe  by  tribe;  for  the  heads  of  the 
tribes  combined  together,  two  by  two,  and  brought  a  waggon 
and  a  yoke  of  oxen.  These  amounted  to  six,  and  they  car¬ 
ried  the  tabernacle  when  they  journeyed.  Besides  which, 
every  head  of  a  tribe  brought  a  bowl,  and  a  charger,  and  a 
spoon  of  ten  darics,  full  of  incense.  Now  the  chaiger  and 


with  other  practices  as  old  or  older  than  the  law  of  Moses,  should  have 
been  ordained  in  imitation  of  somewhat  like  them  among  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  which  we  never  heard  of  till  the  days  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  ^Slian, 
and  Maimonides.  or  little  earlier  than  the  Christian  era  at  the  highest,  is 
almost  unaccountable  ;  while  the  main  business  of  the  law  of  Moses 
was  evidently  to  preserve  the  Israelites  from  the  idolatrous  and  super¬ 
stitious  practices  of  the  neighbouring  Pagan  nations,  and  while  it  is  so 
undeniable,  that  the  evidence  for  the  great  antiquity  of  the  law  of  Mo¬ 
os  is  incomparably  beyond  that  or  the  like  or  greater  antiquity  of  such 
customs  in  Egypt  or  other  nations,  which  indeed  is  generally  none  at 
all,  it  is  most  absurd  to  derive  any  of  Moses’s  laws  from  the  imifation  of 
those  heathen  practices.  Such  hypotheses  demonstrate  to  us  how  far 
inclination  can  prevail  over  evidences,  in  even  some  of  the  most  learii" 
ed  part  of  mankind. 


OF  TIIE  JEWS. 


221 


Chap.  IX. 

the  bowl  were  of  silver;  and  together  they  weighed  two  hun¬ 
dred  shekels,  but  the  bowl  cost  no  more  than  seventy  shekels  ; 
and  these  were  full  of  fine  flour  mingled  with  oil,  such  as 
they  used  on  the  altar  about  the  sacrifices.  They  brought 
also  a  young  bullock,  and  a  ram,  with  a  lamb  of  a  year  old,  for 
a  whole  burnt-offering  ;  as  also  a  goat,  for  the  forgiveness  of 
sins.  Every  one  of  the  heads  of  the  tribes  brought  also  other 
sacrifices,  called  Peace-offerings ,  for  every  day,  two  bulls, 
and  five  rams,  with  lambs  of  a  year  old,  and  kids  of  the  goats. 
These  heads  of  tribes  were  twelve  days  in  sacrificing,  one 
sacrificing  every  day.'  Now  Moses  went  no  longer  up  to 
mount  Sinai,  but  went  into  the  tabernacle,  and  learned  of 
God  what  they  were  to  do,  and  what  laws  should  be  made ; 
which  laws  were  preferable  to  what  had  been  devised  by  hu¬ 
man  understanding,  and  proved  to  be  firmly  observed  for  all 
time  to  come,  as  being  believed  to  be  the  gift  of  God;  inso¬ 
much,  that  the  Hebrews  did  not  transgress  any  of  those  laws, 
either  as  tempted  in  times  of  peace  by  luxury,  or  in  times  of 
war  by  distress  of  affairs.  But  I  say  no  more  here  concern¬ 
ing  them,  because  l  have  resolved  to  compose  another  work 
concerning  our  laws. 


CHAP.  JX. 

The  nature  of  our  offering  sacrifices. 

vj>  1.  I  will  now,  however,  make  mention  of  a  few  of  our 
laws,  which  belong  to  purifications,  and  the  like  sacred  offi¬ 
ces,  since  I  am  accidentally  come  to  this  matter  of  sacrifices. 
These  sacrifices  were  of  two  sorts  :  of  those  sorts,  one  was  of¬ 
fered  for  private  persons,  and  the  other  for  the  people  in  gene¬ 
ral  ;  and  they  are  done  in  two  different  ways ;  in  the  one  case 
what  is  slain  is  burnt,  as  a  whole  burnt-offering,  whence  that 
name  is  given  to  it :  but  the  other  is  a  thank-offering,  and  is 
designed  for  feasting  those  that  sacrifice.  I  will  speak  of  the 
former.  Suppose  a  private  man  offer  a  burnt-offering,  he 
must  slay  either  a  bull,  a  lamb,  or  a  kid  of  the  goats,  and  the 
two  latter  of  the  first  year,  though  of  bulls  he  is  permitted  to 
sacrifice  those  of  a  greater  age  ;  but  all  burnt-offerings  are  to 
be  of  males.  When  they  are  slain,  the  priests  sprinkle  the 
blood  round  about  the  altar  ;  they  then  cleanse  the  bodies, 
and  divide  them  into  parts,  and  salt  them  with  salt,  and  lay 
them  upon  the  altar,  while  the  pieces  of  wood  are  piled  one 
upon  another,  and  the  fire  is  burning;  they  next  cleanse  the 
feet  of  the  sacrifices,  and  the  inwards,  in  an  accurate  manner, 
arid  so  lay  them  to  the  rest  to  be  purged  by  the  fire,  while 


222  ANTIQUITIES  Boole  III 

the  priests  receive  the  hides.  This  is  the  way  of  offering  a 
burnt-offering. 

2.  But  those  that  offer  thank-offerings,  do  indeed  sacrifice 
the  same  creatures  but  such  as  are  unblemished,  and  above 
a  year  old ;  however,  they  may  take  either  males  or  females. 
They  also  sprinkle  the  altar  with  their  blood  ;  but  they  lay 
upon  the  altar  the  kidneys,  and  the  caul,  and  all  the  fat,  and 
the  lobe  of  the  liver,  together  with  the  rump  of  the  lamb ; 
then  giving  the  breast  and  the  right  shoulder  to  the  priests, 
the  offerers  feast  upon  the  remainder  of  the  llesh  for  two 
days  ;  and  what  remains  they  burn.  ' 

3  The  sacrifices  for  sins  are  offered  in  the  same  manner 
as  is  the  thank-offering.  But  those  who  are  unable  to  pur¬ 
chase  complete  sacrifices,  offer  two  pigeons,  or  turtle-doves  ; 
the  one  of  which  is  made  a  burnt-offering  to  God,  the  other 
they  give  as  food  for  the  priests.  But  we  shall  treat  more 
accurately  about  the  oblation  of  these  creatures  in  our  dis¬ 
course  concerning  sacrifices.  But  if  a  person  fall  into  sin 
b}f  ignorance,  he  offers  an  ewe-lamb,  or  female  kid  of  the 
goats  after  the  same  age;  and  the  priests  sprinkle  the  blood 
at  the  altar  not  after  the  former  manner,  but  at  the  corners 
of  it.  They  also  bring  the  kidneys,  and  the  rest  of  the  fat, 
together  with  the  lobe  of  the  liver,  to  the  altar,  while  the 
priests  bear  away  the  hides  and  the  flesh,  and  spend  it  in 
the  holy  place  #on  the  same  day  ;  for  the  law  does  not  per¬ 
mit  them  to  leave  off  until  the  morning.  But  if  any  one  sin. 
and  is  conscious  of  it  himself,  but  hath  nobody  that  can  prove 
it  upon  him,  he  offers  a  ram,  the  law  enjoining  him  so  to  do; 
the  flesh  of  which  the  priests  eat,  as  before,  in  the  holy  place 
on  the  same  day.  And  if  the  rulers  offer  sacrifices  for  their 
sins,  they  bring  the  same  oblations  that  private  men  do  ;  only 
they  so  far  differ,  that  they  are  to  bring  for  sacrifices  a  bull,  or 
a  kid  of  the  goats,  both  males. 

4.  Now  the  law  requires  both  in  private  and  public  sacri¬ 
fices,  that  the  finest  flour  be  also  brought;  for  a  lamb,  the 
measure  of  one  tenth  deal;  for  a  ram  two;  and  for  a  bull, 
three.  This  they  consecrate  on  the  altar,  when  it  is  mingled 
with  oil;  for  oil  is  also  brought  by  those  that  sacrifice ;  for 

*  What  Reland  well  observes  here,  out  of  Josephus,  ns  compared  with 
the  law  of  Moses,  Levit.  vii.  15,  (that  the  eating  of  the  sacrifice  the 
same  day  it  was  offered,  seems  to  mean  only  before  the  morning  of  the 
next,  although  the  latter  part,  a.  e  the  night,  be  in  strictness  part  of  (he 
next  day ,  according  to  the  Jewish  reckoning,)  is  greatly  to  lie  observed 
upon  other  occasions  also.  The  Jewish  maxim,  in  such  cases,  it  seems 
is  this,  that  the  day  goes  before  the  night ;  and  this  appears  to  me  to  be 
the  language  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  See  also  the  note 
on  Antiq.  B,  iv.  ch.  iv-  §  4,  and  Reland’s  note  on  B.  iv.  ch.  viii.  §  28. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


223 


Chap.  X. 


a  bull  the  half  of  an  hin,  and  for  a  ram  a  third  part  of  the  same 
measure,  and  one  quarter  of  it  for  a  lamb.  This  hin  is  an  an¬ 
cient  Hebrew  measure,  and  is  equivalent  to  two  Athenian 
choas  or  [conguises.]  They  bring  the  same  quantity  of  oil 
which  they  do  of  wine,  and  they  pour  the  wine  about  the  al¬ 
tar  ;  but  if  any  one  does  not  offer  a  complete  sacrifice  of  ani¬ 
mals,  but  brings  fine  flour  only  for  a  vow,  he  throws  an  hand¬ 
ful  upon  the  altar  as  its  first  fruits,  while  the  priests  take  the 
rest  for  their  food,  either  boiled  or  mingled  with  oil,  but  made 
into  cakes  of  bread.  But  whatsoever  it  be  that  a  priest  him¬ 
self  offers,  it  must  of  necessity  be  all  burnt.  Now  the  law  for¬ 
bids  us  to  sacrifice  any  animal  at  the  same  time  with  its  dam  ; 
and  in  other  cases  not  till  the  eighth  day  after  its  birth.  Oth¬ 
er  sacrifices  there  are  also  appointed  for  escaping  distempers, 
or  for  other  occasions,  in  which  meat-offerings  are  consumed, 
together  with  the  animals  that  are  sacrificed  ;  of  which  it  is 
not  lawful  to  leave  any  part  till  the  next  day,  only  the  priests 
are  to  take  their  own  share. 


CHAP.  X. 

Concerning  the  Festivals  :  and  how  each  day  of  such  festi¬ 
val  is  to  be  observed. 

§  1.  The  law  requires,  that  out  of  the  public  expenses  a 
lamb  of  the  first  year,  should  be  killed  every  day,  at  the  be¬ 
ginning  and  at  the  ending  of  the  day  ;  but  on  the  seventh  day, 
which  is  called  the  Sabbath,  they  kill  two,  and  sacrifice  them 
in  the  same  manner.  At  the  new  moon,  they  both  perform 
the  daily  sacrifices,  and  slay  two  bulls,  with  seven  lambs,  of 
the  first  year,  and  a  kid  of  the  goats  also,  for  the  expiation  of 
sins;  that  is,  if  they  have  sinned  through  ignorance. 

2.  But  on  the  seventh  month,  which  the  Macedonians  call 
Ilyperberetaeus,  they  make  an  addition  to  those  already  men¬ 
tioned,  and  sacrifice  a  bull,  a  ram,  and  seven  lambs,  and  a  kid 
of  the  goats,  for  sins. 

3.  On  the  tenth  day  of  the  same  lunar  month,  they  fast  till 
the  evening ;  and  this  day  they  sacrifice  a  bull,  and  two  rams, 
and  seven  lambs,  and  a  kid  of  the  goats,  for  sins.  And  be¬ 
sides  these,  they  bring  two  kids  of  the  goats ;  the  one  of 
which  is  sent  alive  out  of  the  limits  of  the  camp  into  the  wil¬ 
derness  for  the  scape-goat,  and  to  be  an  expiation  for  the  sins 
of  the  whole  multitude;  but  the  other  is  brought  into  a  place 
of  great  cleanness,  within  the  limits  of  the  camp,  and  is  there 
burnt,  with  its  skin,  without  any  sort  of  cleansing.  With 
this  goat  was  burnt  a  bull,  not  brought  by  the  people,  but  by 


224  ANTIQUITIES  Book  III 

the  high-priest,  at  his  own  charges  ;  which,  when  it  was  slain, 
he  brought  of  the  blood  into  the  holy  place,  together  with 
the  blood  of  the  kid  of  the  goats,  and  sprinkled  the  ceiling 
with  his  finger  seven  times,  as  also  its  pavement,  and  again 
as  often  toward  the  [most]  holy  place,  and  about  the  golden 
altar  :  he  also  at  last  brings  it  into  the  open  court,  and  sprin¬ 
kles  it  about  the  great  altar.  Besides  this,  they  set  the  ex¬ 
tremities,  and  the  kidneys,  and  the  fat,  with  the  lobe  of  the 
liver,  upon  the  altar.  The  high-priest  likewise  presents  a 
ram  to  God  as  a  burnt-offering. 

4.  Upon  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  same  month,  when  the 
season  of  the  year  is  changing  for  winter,  the  law  enjoins  us 
to  pitch  tabernacles  in  every  one  of  our  houses,  so  that  we 
preserve  ourselves  from  the  cold  of  that  time  of  the  year  ;  as 
also  that  when  we  shall  arrive  at  our  own  country,  and  come 
to  that  city  that  we  should  have  then  for  our  metropolis,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  temple  therein  to  be  built,  and  keep  a  festival  for 
eight  days,  and  offer  burnt-offerings,  and  sacrifice  thank-offe¬ 
rings,  that  we  should  then  carry  in  our  hands  a  branch  of  myr¬ 
tle,  and  willow,  and  a  bough  of  the  palm-tree,  with  the  addi¬ 
tion  of  the  pomecitron.  That  the  burnt-offering  on  the  first 
of  those  days  was  to  be  a  sacrifice  of  thirteen  bulls,  and  four¬ 
teen  lambs,  and  fifteen  rams,  with  the  addition  of  a  kid  of  the 
goats,  as  an  expiation  for  sins  :  and  on  the  following  days  the 
same  number  of  lambs,  and  of  rams,  with  the  kids  of  the 
goats ;  but  abating  one  of  the  bulls  every  day,  till  they 
amounted  to  seven  only.  On  the  eighth  day  all  work  was 
laid  aside,  and  then,  as  wre  said  before,  they  sacrificed  to  God 
a  bullock,  a  ram,  and  seven  lambs,  with  a  kid  of  the  goats  for 
an  expiation  of  sins.  And  this  is  the  accustomed  solemnity 
of  the  Hebrews,  when  they  pitch  their  tabernacles. 

5.  In  the  month  of  Xanthicus,  which  is  by  us  called  Ni- 
san,  and  is  the  beginning  of  our  year,  in  the  fourteenth  day 
of  the  lunar  month,  when  the  sun  is  in  Aries,  (for  on  this 
month  it  was  that  we  were  delivered  from  bondage  under 
the  Egyptians,)  the  law  ordained  that  we  should  every  year 
slay  that  sacrifice  which  I  before  told  you  we  slew,  when  we 
came  out  of  Egypt,  and  which  we  called  the  Passover  :  and 
so  do  we  celebrate  this  passover  in  companies,  leaving  no¬ 
thing  of  what  we  sacrifice  till  the  day  following,  'i  he  feast 
of  unleavened  bread  succeeds  that  of  the  passover,  and  falls 
on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month,  and  continues  seven  days, 
wherein  they  feed  on  unleavened  bread  ;  on  every  one  of 
which  days  two  bulls  are  killed,  and  one  ram,  and  seven 
lambs.  Now  these  lambs  are  entirely  burnt,  besides  the  kid 
of  the  goats,  which  is  added  to  all  the  rest,  for  sins ;  for  it  is 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


0 hap.  X. 


intended  as  a  feast  for  the  priest  on  every  one  of  those  days. 
But  on  the  second  day  of  unleavened  bread,  which  is  the  six¬ 
teenth  day  of  the  month,  they  first  partake  of  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  for  before  that  day  they  do  not  touch  them.  And 
while  they  suppose  it  proper  to  honour  God,  from  whom  they 
obtain  this  plentiful  provision,  in  the  first  place,  they  offer  the 
first  fruits  of  their  barley,  and  that  in  the  manner  following. 
They  take  an  handful  of  the  ears,  and  dry  them,  then  beat 
them  small,  and  purge  the  barley  from  the  bran  ;  they  then 
bring  one  tenth  deal  to  the  altar,  to  God  ;  and  casting  one 
handful  of  it  upon  the  fire,  they  leave  the  rest  for  the  use  of 
the  priests.  And  after  this  it  is  that  they  may  publicly  or  pri¬ 
vately  reap  their  harvest.  They  also,  at  this  participation 
of  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  sacrifice  a  lamb  as  a  burnt-offering 
to  God. 

6.  When  a  w’eek  of  weeks  has  passed  over  after  this  sa* 
crifice,  (which  weeks  contain  forty-nine  days,)  on  the  fif¬ 
teenth  day,  which  is  Pentecost,  but  is  called  by  the  Hebrews 
Asartha,  which  signifies  Pentecost,  they  bring  to  God  a  loaf, 
made  of  wheat-flour,  of  two  tenth  deals,  with  leaven  ;  and 
for  sacrifice  they  bring  two  lambs  ;  and  when  they  have  on¬ 
ly  presented  them  to  God,  they  are  made  ready  for  supper 
for  the  priests  ;  nor  is  it  permitted  to  leave  any  thing  of  them 
till  the  day  following.  They  also  slay  three  bullocks  for  a 
burnt-offering,  and  two  rams  ;  and  fourteen  lambs,  with  two 
kids  of  the  goats  for  sins ;  nor  is  there  any  one  of  the  festivals 
but  in  it  they  offer  burnt-offeidngs ;  they  also  allow  themselves 
to  rest  on  every  one  of  them.  Accordingly,  the  law  pre¬ 
scribes  in  them  all,  what  kinds  they  are  to  sacrifice  ;  and  how 
they  are  to  rest  entirely,  and  must  slay  sacrifices,  in  order  to 
feast  upon  them. 

7-  However,  out  of  the  common  charges,  baked  bread  [was 
set  on  the  table  of  sh°w-bread,]  without  leaven,  of  twenty- 
four  tenth  deals  of  flour,  for  so  much  is  spent  upon  this 
bread  :  two  heaps  of  these  were  baked  ;  they  were  taken 
the  day  before  the  Sabbath,  but  were  brought  into  the  holy 
place  on  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath,  and  set  upon  the  holy 
table,  six  on  an  heap,  one  loaf  still  standing  over  against 
another  :  where  two  golden  cups  full  of  frankincense  were 
also  set  upon  them,  and  there  they  remained  till  another 
Sabbath,  and  then  other  loaves  were  brought  in  their  stead, 
while  the  loaves  were  given  to  the  priests  for  their  food,  and 
the  frankincense  was  burnt  in  that  sacred  fire  wherein  all 
their  offerings  were  burnt  also  ;  and  so  other  frankincense 
was  set  upo£  the  loaves  instead  of  what  was  there  before. 
The  [high]  priest  also,  of  his  own  charges,  offered  a  sacri- 


226  ANTIQUITIES  Book  III. 

fice,  and  that  twice  every  day.  It  was  made  of  flour,  min* 
gled  with  oil,  and  gently  baked  by  the  fire;  the  quantity  was 
one  tenth  deal  of  flour  :  he  brought  the  half  of  it  to  the  fire 
in  the  morning,  and  the  other  half  at  night.  The  account  of 
these  sacrifices  I  shall  give  more  accurately  hereafter  ;  but 
I  think  I  have  premised  what  for  the  present  may  be  sufficient 
concerning  them. 

rtsssr*. 

CHAP.  XI. 

Of  the  purifications. 

^  1.  Moses  took  out  the  tribe  of  Levi  from  communicat¬ 
ing  with  the  rest  of  the  people,  and  set  them  apart  to  be  an 
holy  tribe  ;  and  purified  them  by  water,  taken  from  perpetu¬ 
al  springs,  and  with  such  sacrifices  as  were  usually  offered  to 
God  on  the  like  occasions.  lie  delivered  to  them  also  the 
tabernacle,  and  the  sacred  vessels,  and  the  other  curtains 
which  were  made  for  covering  the  tabernade,  that  they  might 
minister  under  the  conduct  of  the  priests,  who  had  already 
been  consecrated  to  God. 

2.  He  also  determined  concerning  animals  ;  which  of  them 
might  be  used  for  food,  and  which  they  were  obliged  to  ab¬ 
stain  from  :  which  matters,  when  this  work  shall  give  me  oc¬ 
casion,  shall  be  farther  explained  ;  and  the  causes  shall  be 
added,  by  which  he  was  moved  to  allot  some  of  them  to  be 
our  food,  and  jenjoined  us  to  abstain  from  others.  However, 
he  entirely  forbade  us  the  use  of  blood  for  food,  and  esteemed 
it  to  contain  the  soul  and  spirit  He  also  forbade  us  to  eat 
the  flesh  of  an  animal  that  died  of  itself ;  as  also  the  caul,  and 
the  fat  of  goats,  and  sheep,  and  bulls. 

3.  He  also  ordered,  that  those  whose  bodies  were  afflicted 
with  leprosy,  and  that  had  a  gonorrhoea,  should  not  come 
into  the  #city  :  nay,  he  removed  the  women  when  they  had 
their  natural  purgations,  till  the  seventh  day  ;  after  which  he 
looked  on  them  as  pure,  and  permitted  them  to  come  in  again. 
The  law  permits  those  also  who  have  taken  care  of  funerals 
to  come  in  after  the  same  manner,  when  this  number  of  days 
is  over ;  but  if  any  continued  longer  than  that  number  of  days 
in  a  state  of  pollution,  the  law  appointed  the  offering  of  two 
lambs  fora  sacrifice  ;  the  one  of  which  they  are  to  purge  by 
the  fire,  and  for  the  other  the  priests  take  it  for  themselves. 

*  We  may  here  note,  that  Josephus  frequently  calls  the  camp  the 
City,  and  the  oourt  of  the  Mosaic  tabernacle  a  Temple,  and  the  taber¬ 
nacle  itself  an  Holy  House,  with  allusion  to  the  latter  city,  temple,  and 
holy  house,  which  he  knew  jo  well  long  afterwards. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


227 


Chap.  XI. 

In  the  same  manner  do  those  sacrifice  who  have  had  ths  go¬ 
norrhoea.  But  he  that  sheds  his  seed  in  his  sleep,  if  he  goes 
down  into  cold  water,  he  has  the  same  privilege  with  those 
that  have  lawfully  accompanied  with  their  wives.  And  for 
the  lepers,  he  suffered  them  not  to  come  into  the  city  at  all, 
nor  to  live  with  any  others,  as  if  they  were  in  effect  dead  per¬ 
sons;  but  if  any  had  obtained,  by  prayer  to  God,  the  re¬ 
covery  from  that  distemper,  and  had  gained  a  healthful 
complexion  again,  such  an  one  returned  thanks  to  God,  with 
several  sorts  of  sacrifices :  concerning  which  we  will  speak 
hereafter. 

4.  Whence  one  cannot  but  smile  at  those  who  say,  that 
Moses  was  himself  afflicted  with  leprosy,  when  he  fled  out  of 
Egypt ;  and  that  he  became  the  conductor  of  those  who  on 
that  account  left  that  country,  and  led  them  into  the  land  of 
Canaan  :  for  had  this  been  true,  Moses  would  not  have  made 
these  laws  to  his  own  dishonour,  which  indeed  it  was  more 
likely  he  would  have  opposed,  if  others  had  endeavoured  to 
introduce  them  ;  and  this  the  rather,  because  there  are  lepers 
in  many  nations,  who  yet  are  in  honour,  and  not  only  free 
from  reproach  and  avoidance,  but  who  have  been  great  cap¬ 
tains  of  armies,  and  been  intrusted  with  high  offices  in  the 
commonwealth;  and  have  had  the  privilege  of  entering  into 
holy  places  and  temples  :  so  that  nothing  hindered,  but  if  ei¬ 
ther  Moses  himself,  or  the  multitude  that  was  with  him,  had 
been  liable  to  such  a  misfortune,  in  the  colour  of  his  skin,  he 
might  have  made  law’s  about  them  for  their  credit  and  advan¬ 
tage,  and  have  laid  no  manner  of  difficulty  upon  them.  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  it  is  a  plain  case,  that  it  is  out  of  violent  prejudice 
only  that  they  report  these  things  about  us.  But  Moses  was 
pure  from  any  such  distemper;  and  lived  with  countrymen 
who  were  pure  of  it  also,  and  thence  made  the  laws  which, 
concerned  others  that  had  the  distemper.  He  did  this  for  the 
honour  of  God.  But  as  to  these  matters,  let  every  one  con¬ 
sider  them  after  what  manner  he  pleases. 

5.  As  to  the  women,  when  they  have  borne  a  child,  Moses 
forbade  them  to  come  into  the  temple,  or  touch  the  sacrifices, 
before  forty  days  were  over,  supposing  it  to  be  a  boy  ;  but  if 
she  hath  borne  a  girl,  the  law  is  that  she  cannot  be  admitted 
before  twice  that  number  of  days  be  over.  And  when,  alter 
the  before-mentioned  time  appointed  for  them,  they  perforin 
their  sacrifices,  the  priests  distribute  them  before  God. 

6.  But  if  any  one  suspect  that  his  wife  has  been  guilty  of 
adultery,  he  was  to  bring  a  tenth  deal  of  barley  flour :  they  then 
cast  one  handful  to  God,  and  gave  the  rest  of  it  to  the  priests 
fox  food.  One  of  the  priests  set  the  woman  at  the  gates  that 


228 


Boole  III 


ANTIQUITIES 

are  turned  towards  the  temple,  and  took  the  vail  from  her 
head,  and  wrote  the  name  of  God  in  parchment,  and  enjoined 
her  to  swear  that  she  had  not  at  all  injured  her  husband  j  and 
to  wish  that  if  she  had  violated  her  chastity,  her  right  thigh 
might  be  put  out  of  joint ;  that  her  belly  might  swell,  and  that 
she  might  die  thus  :  but  that  if  her  husband,  by  the  violence 
of  his  affection,  and  of  the  jealousy  which  arose  from  it,  had 
been  rashly  moved  to  this  suspicion,  that  she  might  bear  a 
male  child  on  the  tenth  month.  Now  when  these  oaths  were 
over,  the  priest  wiped  the  name  of  God  out  of  the  parchment 
and  wrung  the  water  into  a  vial.  He  also  took  some  dustout 
of  the  temple,  if  any  happened  to  be  there,  and  put  a  little  of 
it  into  a  vial,  and  gave  it  her  to  drink  ;  whereon  the  woman, 
if  she  were  unjustly  accused,  conceived  with  child,  and 
brought  it  to  perfection  in  her  womb  :  but  if  she  had  bioken 
her  faith  of  wedlock  to  her  husband,  and  had  sworn  falsely  be¬ 
fore  God,  she  died  in  a  reproachful  manner ;  her  thigh  fell  off 
from  her,  and  her  belly  swelled  with  a  dropsy.  And  these 
are  the  ceremonies  about  sacrifices,  and  about  the  purifica¬ 
tions  thereto  belonging,  which  Moses  provided  for  his  coun¬ 
trymen.  He  also  prescribed  the  following  laws  to  them. 


CHAP.  XII. 

Several  Laws. 

§  1.  As  for  adultery,  Moses  forbade  it  entirely,  as  esteem¬ 
ing  it  an  happy  thing  that  men  should  be  wise  in  the  affairs  of 
wedlock  ;  and  that  it  was  profitable  both  to  cities  and  fami¬ 
lies,  that  children  should  be  known  to  be  genuine.  He  also 
abhorred  men’s  lying  with  their  mothers,  as  one  of  the  great¬ 
est  crimes  ;  and  the  like  for  lying  with  their  father’s  wife,  and 
with  aunts,  and  sisters,  and  son’s  wives,  as  all  instances  of 
abominable  wickedness.  He  also  forbade  a  man  to  lie  with  a 
wife  when  she  was  defiled  by  her  natural  purgation  ;  and  not 
to  come  near  brute  beasts,  nor  to  approve  of  the  lying  with  a 
male,  which  was  to  hunt  after  unlawful  pleasures  on  account 
of  beauty.  To  those  who  were  guilty  of  such  insolent  beha¬ 
viour,  he  ordained  death  for  their  punishment. 

2.  As  for  the  priests,  he  prescribed  to  them  #a  double 

*  These  words  of  Josephus’s  are  remarkable,  t hat  the  lawgiver  of 
the  Jews  required  of  the  priests  n  double  degree  of  purity,  in  comparison 
of  that  required  of  the  people  ;  of  which  he  gives  several  instances  im¬ 
mediately.  It  was  for  certain  the  case  also  among  the  first  Christians, 
of  the  clergy,  in  comparison  of  the  laity,  as  the  apostolical  constitutions 
and'canons  every  where  inform  us. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


229 


Chap.  XI L 

degree  of  purity :  for  he  restrained  them  in  the  instances 
above,  and  moreover  forbade  them  to  marry  harlots.  He 
also  forbade  them  to  marry  a  slave  or  a  captive,  and  such  as 
got  their  living  by  cheating  trades,  and  by  keeping  inns  ;  as 
also  a  woman  parted  from  her  husband  on  an}'  occasion  what¬ 
soever.  Nay,  he  did  not  think  it  proper  for  the  high-priest  to 
marry  even  the  widow  of  one  that  was  dead,  though  he  al¬ 
lowed  that  to  the  priests,  but  he  permitted  him  only  to  mar¬ 
ry  a  virgin,  and  to  retain  her.  Whence  it  is  that  the  high- 
priest  is  not  to  come  near  to  one  that  is  dead,  though  the  rest 
are  not  prohibited  from  coming  near  to  their  brethren,  or 
parents  or  children,  when  they  are  dead,  but  they  are  to  be 
unblemished  in  all  respects.  He  ordered  that  the  priest, 
who  had  any  blemish,  should  have  his  portion  indeed  among 
the  priests,  but  he  forbade  him  to  ascend  the  altar,  or  to  en¬ 
ter  into  the  holy  house.  He  also  enjoined  them  not  only  to 
observe  purity  in  their  sacred  ministrations,  but  in  their  daily 
conversation,  that  it  might  be  unblameable  also.  And  on  this 
account  it  is,  that  those  who  wear  the  sacerdotal  garments 
are  without  spot,  and  eminent  for  their  purity  and  sobriety  ; 
nor  are  they  permitted  to  drink  wine  so  long  as  they  wear* 
those  garments.  Moreover,  they  offer  sacrifices  that  are  en¬ 
tire,  and  have  no  defect  whatsoever. 

3.  And  truly  Moses  gave  them  all  these  precepts,  being 
such  as  were  observed  during  his  own  lifetime.  But  though 
he  lived  now  in  the  wilderness,  yet  did  he  make  provision 
how  they  might  observe  the  same  laws,  when  they  should 
have  taken  the  land  of  Canaan  :  he  gave  them  rest  to  the 
land  from  ploughing  and  planting  every  seventh  year,  as  he 
had  prescribed  to  them  to  rest  from  working  every  seventh 
day;  and  ordered,  that  what  grew  of  its  own  accord  out  of 
the  earth,  should  in  common  belong  to  all  that  pleased  to 
use  it,  making  no  distinction  in  that  respect  between  their 
own  countrymen  and  foreigners:  and  he  ordained,  that  they 
should  do  the  same  after  seven  times  seven  years,  which  in 
all  arc  fifty  years  :  and  that  fiftieth  year  is  called  by  the  He¬ 
brews  the  Jubilee,  wherein  debtors  are  freed  from  their 
debts,  and  slaves  are  set  at  liberty ;  which  slaves  became 
such,  though  they  were  of  the  same  stock,  by  transgressing 
some  of  those  laws  whose  punishment  was  not  capital ;  but 
they  were  punished  by  this  method  of  slavery.  This  year 

*  We  must  here  note  with  Reland,  that  the  precept  given  to  the 
priests  of  not  drinking  wine,  while  they  wore  the  sacred  garments  is 
equivalentto their  abstinencefrom  it  all  the  whilethey  ministered  in  the 
temple,  because  they  then  always,  and  then  only,  wore  those  sacred  gar¬ 
ments,  which  were  laid  up  there  from  one  time  of  ministration  to  an 
other. 

VOL.  1. 


u 


230  ANTIQUITIES  Boole  III 

also  restores  the  land  to  its  former  possessors  in  the  manner 
following:  when  the  Jubilee  is  come,  which  name  denotes 
liberty,  he  that  sold  the  land,  and  he  that  bought  it,  meet  to¬ 
gether,  and  make  an  estimate,  on  one  hand,  of  the  fruits  ga¬ 
thered,  and  on  the  other  hand,  of  the  expenses  laid  out  upon 
it.  If  the  fruits  gathered  come  to  more  than  the  expenses 
laid  out,,  he  that  sold  it  takes  the  land  again  ;  but  if  the  ex¬ 
penses  prove  more  than  the  fruits,  the  present  possessor  re¬ 
ceives  of  the  former  owner  the  difference  that  was  wanting, 
and  leaves  the  land  to  him  ;  and  if  the  fruits  received,  and 
the  expenses  laid  out,  prove  equal  to  one  another,  the  pre¬ 
sent  possessor  relinquishes  it  to  the  former  owners.  Moses 
would  have  the  same  law  obtain  as  to  those  houses  also  which 
were  sold  in  villages ;  but  he  made  a  different  law  for  such 
as  were  sold  in  a  city :  for  if  he  that  sold  it,  tendered  the  pur¬ 
chaser  his  money  again  within  a  year,  he  was  forced  to  re¬ 
store  it;  but  if  a  whole  year  intervened,  the  purchaser  was 
to  enjoy  what  he  had  bought.  This  was  the  constitution  of 
the  laws  which  Moses  learned  of  God,  when  the  camp  lay 
under  mount  Sinai ;  and  these  he  delivered  in  writing  to  the 
Hebrews. 

4.  Now  when  this  settlement  of  laws  seemed  to  be  well 
over,  Moses  thought  fit  at  length  to  take  a  review  of  the  host, 
as  thinking  it  proper  to  settle  the  affairs  of  war.  So  he 
charged  the  heads  of  the  tribes,  excepting  the  tribe  of  Levi, 
to  take  an  exact  account  of  the  number  of  those  that  were 
able  to  go  to  war;  for  as  to  the  Levites,  they  were  holy,  and 
free  from  all  such  burdens.  Now  when  the  people  had  been 
numbered,  there  were  found  six  hundred  thousand  that  were 
able  to  go  to  war,  from  twenty  to  fifty  years  of  age,  besides 
three  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty.  Instead  of  Levi,  Mo¬ 
ses  took  Manasseh,  the  son  of  Joseph,  among  the  heads  of 
tribes;  and  Ephraim  instead  of  Joseph.  It  «ras  indeed  the 
desire  of  Jacob  himself  to  Joseph,  that  he  would  give  him 
his  sons  to  be  his  own  by  adoption,  as  I  have  before  related. 

5.  When  they  set  up  the  tabernacle,  they  received  it  into 
the  midst  of  their  camp,  three  of  the  tribes  pitching  their 
tents  on  each  side  of  it,  and  roads  were  cut  through  the  midst 
of  these  tents.  It  was  like  a  well  appointed  market ;  and 
every  thing  was  there  ready  for  sale  in  due  order ;  and  all 
sorts  of  artifices  were  in  the  shops ;  and  it  resembled  no¬ 
thing  so  much  as  a  city  that  sometimes  was  moveable,  and 
sometimes  fixed.  The  priests  had  the  first  places  about  the 
tabernacle ;  then  the  Levites,  who,  because  their  whole 
multitude  was  reckoned  from  thirty  days  old,  were  twenty- 
thrcc  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty  males.  And  dur- 


OP  THE  JEWS. 


231 


Clap.  XIII. 

ing  the  time  that  the  cloud  stood  over  the  tabernacle,  they 
thought  proper  to  stay  in  the  same  place,  as  supposing  that 
God  there  inhabited  among  them;  but  when  that  removed, 
they  journeyed  also. 

9.  Moreover  Moses  was  the  inventor  of  the  form  of  their 
trumpet,  that  was  made  of  silver.  Its  description  is  this:  in 
length  it  was  little  less  than  a  cubit.  It  was  composed  of  a 
narrow  tube,  somewhat  thicker  than  a  flute,  but  with  so  much 
breadth  as  was  sufficient  for  admission  of  the  breadth  of  a 
man’s  mouth;  it  ended  in  the  form  of  a  bell,  like  common 
trumpets.  Its  sound  was  called  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  Asosra. 
Two  of  these  being  made,  one  of  them  was  sounded  when 
they  required  the  multitude  to  come  together  to  congrega¬ 
tions.  When  the  first  of  them  gave  a  signal,  the  heads  of 
the  tribes  were  to  assemble,  and  consult  about  the  affairs  to 
them  properly  belonging ;  but  when  they  gave  the  signal  by 
both  of  them,  they  called  the  multitude  together.  When¬ 
ever  the  tabernacle  was  removed,  it  was  done  in  this  solemn 
order:  at  the  first  alarm  of  the  trumpet,  those  whose  tents 
were  on  the  east  quarter  prepared  to  remove  ;  when  the  se¬ 
cond  signal  was  given,  those  that  were  on  the  south  quarter 
did  the  like;  in  the  next  place,  the  tabernacle  was  taken  to 
pieces,  and  was  carried  in  the  midst  of  six  tribes  that  went 
before,  and  six  that  followed,  all  the  Levites  assisting  about 
the  tabernacle;  when  the  third  signal  was  given,  that  part 
which  had  their  tents  towards  the  west  put  themselves  into 
motion ;  and  at  the  fourth  signal,  those  on  the  north  did  so 
likewise  They  also  made  use  of  these  trumpets  in  their 
sacred  ministrations,  when  they  were  bringing  their  sacrifices 
to  the  altar,  as. well  on  the  Sabbath  as  on  the  rest  of  the  [fes¬ 
tival]  days.  And  now  it  was  that  Moses  offered  that  sacrifice, 
which  was  called  the  Passover  in  the  wilderness,  as  the  first 
he  had  offered  after  the  departure  out  of  Egypt. 


CHAP.  XIII. 

How  Moses  removed  from  Mount  Sinai,  and  conducted  the 
people  to  the  borders  of  the  Canaanites. 

<§,  1.  A  little  while  afterwards  he  rose  up,  and  went 
from  mount  Sinai ;  and  having  passed  through  several  man¬ 
sions,  of  which  we  will  speak  anon,  he  came  to  a  place  called 
Hazeroth,  where  the  multitude  began  again  to  be  mutinous, 
and  blame  Moses  for  the  misfortunes  they  had  suffered  in 
their  travels;  and  that  when  he  had  persuaded  them  to 
leave  a  good  land,  they  at  once  had  lost  that  land,  and  in- 


232 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  III 


stead  of  that  happy  state  he  had  promised  them,  they  were 
still  wandering  in  their  present  miserable  condition,  being  al¬ 
ready  in  want  of  water;  and  if  the  manna  should  happen  to 
fail,  they  must  then  utterly  perish.  Yet,  while  they  gene¬ 
rally  spake  many  and  sore  things  against  the  man,  there  was 
one  of  them  who  exhorted  them  not  to  be  unmindful  of  Mo¬ 
ses,  and  of  what  great  pains  he  had  been  at  about  their  com¬ 
mon  safety  ;  and  not  to  despair  of  assistance  from  God.  The 
multitude  thereupon  became  still  more  unruly,  and  more  mu¬ 
tinous  against  Moses  than  before.  Hereupon  Moses,  al¬ 
though  he  were  so  basely  abused  by  them,  encouraged  them 
in  their  despairing  condition,  and  promised  that  he  would 
procure  them  a  great  quantity  of  flesh  meat,  and  that  not  for 
a  few  days  only,  but  for  many  days.  This  they  were  not 
willing  to  believe:  and  when  one  of  them  asked,  whence 
he  could  obtain  such  vast  plenty  of  what  he  promised  ?  He 
replied  ;  neither  God  nor  I,  although  we  hear  such  oppro¬ 
brious  words  from  you,  will  eave  off  our  labours  for  you  : 
and  this  shall  soon  appear  also.  As  soon  as  ever  he  had 
said  this,  the  who  e  camp  was  filled  with  quails,  and  they 
stood  round  about  them,  and  gathered  them  in  great  num¬ 
bers.  However  it  was  not  long  ere  God  punished  the  He¬ 
brews  for  their  insolence,  and  those  reproaches  they  had 
used  towards  him,  for  no  small  number  of  them  died.  And 
still  to  this  day  the  place  retains  the  memory  of  this  destruc¬ 
tion,  and  is  named  kibroth  kattaavah  which  is,  the  graves  of 
lust . 


CHAP.  XIV. 

How  Moses  sent  some  persons  to  search  out  the  land  of  the 
Canaanites ,  and  the  largeness  of  their  cities :  and  further 
that  when  those  who  were  sent  were  returned,  after  forty 
days,  and  reported  that  they  should  not  be  a  match  for 
them,  and  extolled  the  strength  of  the  Canaanites,  the  mul¬ 
titude  were  disturbed,  an  >  fell  into  dispair  ;  and  were  re¬ 
solved  to  stone  Moses,  and  return  back  again  into  Egypt , 
and  serve  the  Egyptians. 

§  1.  When  Moses  had  led  the  Hebrews  away  from  thence 
to  a  place  called  Paran,  which  was  near  to  the  borders  of 
the  Canaanites,  and  a  place  difficult  to  be  continued  in,  he 
gathered  the  multitude  together  to  a  congregation;  and 
standing  in  the  midst  of  them,  he  said,  “  Of  the  two  things 
that  God  determined  to  bestow'  upon  us,  liberty,  and  the  pos¬ 
session  of  an  happy  country,  the  one  of  them  ye  already  are 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


233 


Chap.  XIV. 

partakers  of  by  the  gift  of  God,  and  the  other  you  will  quick¬ 
ly  obtain;  for  we  now  have  our  abode  near  the  borders  of 
the  Canaanites,  and  nothing  can  hinder  the  acquisition  of  it, 
when  we  now  at  last  are  fallen  upon  it :  I  say  not  only  no 
king,  nor  city,  but  neither  the  whole  race  of  mankind,  if  they 
were  all  gathered  together,  could  do  it.  Let  us,  therefore, 
prepare  ourselves  for  the  work,  for  the  Canaanites  will  not 
resign  up  their  land  to  us  without  fighting,  but  it  must  be 
wrested  from  them  by  great  struggles  in  war.  Let  us  then 
send  spies,  who  may  take  a  view  of  the  goodness  of  the  land, 
and  what  strength  it  is  of.  But  above  all  things,  let  us  be  of 
one  mind  ;  and  let  us  honour  God,  who  above  all  is  our  helper 
and  assister.” 

2.  When  Moses  had  said  thus,  the  multitude  requited  him 
with  marks  of  respect :  and  chose  twelve  spies,  of  the  most 
eminent  men,  one  out  of  each  tribe,  who  passing  over  all  the 
land  of  Canaan,  from  the  borders  of  Egypt,  came  to  the  city 
Hamath,  and  to  mount  Lebanon  ;  and  having  learned  the  na¬ 
ture  of  the  land,  and  of  its  inhabitants,  ihey  came  home  hav¬ 
ing  spent  forty  days  in  the  whole  work.  They  also  brought 
with  them  of  the  fruits  which  the  land  bear:  they  also  show¬ 
ed  them  the  excellency  of  those  fruits,  and  gave  an  account 
of  the  great  quantity  of  the  good  things  that  land  afforded, 
which  were  motives  to  the  multitude  to  go  to  war.  But  then 
they  terrified  them  again  with  the  great  difficulty  there  was 
in  obtaining  it ;  that  the  rivers  were  so  large  and  deep,  that 
they  could  not  be  passed  over ;  and  that  the  hills  were  so 
high  that  they  could  not  travel  along  for  them  ;  that  the  ci¬ 
ties  were  strong  with  walls,  and  their  firm  fortifications 
round  about  them.  They  told  them  also,  that  they  found  at 
Hebron  the  posterity  of  the  giants.  Accordingly,  these  spies, 
who  had  seen  the  land  of  Canaan,  when  they  perceived  that 
all  these  difficulties  were  greater  there,  than  they  had  met 
with  since  they  came  out  of  Egypt,  they  were  affrighted  at 
them  themselves,  and  endeavoured  to  affright  the  multitude 
also. 

5.  So  they  supposed  from  what  they  had  heard,  that  it 
was  impossible  to  get  the  possession  of  the  country.  And 
when  the  congregation  was  dissolved,  they,  their  wives,  and 
children,  continued  their  lamentation,  as  if  God  would  not 
indeed  assist  them,  but  only  promised  them  fair.  They  also 
again  blamed  Moses,  and  made  a  clamour  against  him,  and 
his  brother  Aaron  the  high-priest.  Accordingly,  they  passed 
that  night  very  ill,  and  with  contumelious  language  against 
them ;  but  in  the  morning  they  ran  to  a  congregation,  in- 


234  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  111 

tending  to  stone  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  so  to  return  into 
Egypt. 

4.  But  of  the  spies,  there  were  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  ot 
the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  and  Caleb  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  that 
were  afraid  of  the  consequence,  and  came  into  the  midst  ot 
them,  and  stilled  the  multitude,  and  desired  them  to  be  ot 
good  courage  5  and  neither  to  condemn  God,  as  having  told 
them  lies  $  neither  to  hearken  to  those  who  had  affrighted 
them,  by  telling  them  what  was  not  true  concerning  the  Ca- 
naanites,  but  to  those  that  encouraged  them  to  hope  for  good 
success  ;  and  that  they  should  gain  possession  of  the  happiness 
promised  them,  because  neither  the  height  of  mountains,  nor 
the  depth  of  rivers  could  hinder  men  of  true  courage  from 
attempting  them,  especially  while  God  would  take  care  of 
them  beforehand,  and  be  assistant  to  them.  Let  us  then  go, 
said  they,  aga:nsl  our  enemies,  and  have  no  suspicion  of  ill 
success,  trusting  in  God  to  conduct  us,  and  following  those 
that  are  to  be  our  leaders.  Thus  did  these  t  wo  exhort  them, 
and  endeavour  to  paciL  the  rage  they  were  in.  But  Moses 
and  Aaron  fell  on  the  ground,  and  besought  God,  not  for 
their  own  deliverance,  but  that  he  would  put  a  stop  to  what 
the  people  were  unwarily  doing,  and  would  bring  their  minds 
to  a  quiet  temper,  which  were  now  disordered  by  their  pre¬ 
sent  passion.  The  cloud  also  did  now  appear  and  stood  over 
the  tabernacle,  and  declared  to  them  the  presence  of  God  to 
be  there. 


CHAP.  XV. 

How  Moses  icas  displeased  at  this ;  and  foretold ,  that  God 
jvas  angry ,  and  that  they  should  continue  in  the  wilderness 
for  forty  years,  and  not  [during  that  time ]  either  return 
into  Egypt  or  take  possession  of  Canaan. 

§  1 .  Moses  came  now  boldly  to  the  multitude,  and  inform¬ 
ed  them,  that  God  was  moved  at  their  abuse  of  him,  and 
would  inflict  punishment  upon  them,  not  indeed  such  as  they 
deserved  for  their  sins,  but  such  as  parents  inflict  on  their 
children,  in  order  to  their  correction  :  for,  he  said,  that  when 
he  was  in  the  tabernacle,  and  was  bewailing  with  tears  that 
destruction  which  was  coming  upon  them,  God  put  him  in 
mind  what  things  he  had  done  for  them,  and  what  benefits 
they  had  received  from  him,  and  yet  how  ungrateful  they 
had  been  to  him:  that  just  now  they  had  been  induced  by 
the  timorousness  of  the  spies  to  think  that  their  words  were 
truer  than  his  own  promise  to  them  j  and  that,  on  this  account, 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


23o 


Chap.  XV. 


though  he  would  not  indeed  destroy  them  all,  nor  utterly  ex¬ 
terminate  their  nation,  which  he  had  honoured  more  than 
any  other  part  of  mankind,  yet  he  would  not  permit  them  to 
take  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  nor  enjoy  its  happi¬ 
ness,  but  would  make  them  wander  in  the  wilderness,  and 
live  without  a  fixed  habitation,  and  without  a  city,  for  forty 
years  together,  as  a  punishment  for  this  their  transgression ; 
but  that  he  hath  promised  to  give  that  land  to  our  children, 
and  that  he  would  make  them  the  possessors  of  those  good 
things,  which  by  your  ungoverned  passions,  you  have  depri¬ 
ved  yourselves  of. 

2.  When  Moses  had  discoursed  thus  to  them,  according  to 
the  direction  of  God,  the  multitude  grieved,  and  were  in  af¬ 
fliction  ;  and  entreated  Moses  to  procure  their  reconciliation 
to  God,  and  to  permit  them  no  longer  to  wander  in  the  wil¬ 
derness,  but  to  bestow  cities  upon  them.  But  he  replied, 
that  God  would  not  admit  of  any  such  trial,  for  that  God  was 
not  moved  to  this  determination  from  any  human  levity  or 
anger,  but  that  he  had  judiciously  condemned  them  to  that 
punishment.  Now  we  are  not  to  disbelieve  that  Moses,  who 
was  but  a  single  person,  pacified  so  many  ten  thousands  when 
they  were  in  anger,  and  converted  them  to  a  mildness  of  tem¬ 
per ;  for  God  was  with  him,  and  prepared  the  way  to  his  per¬ 
suasions  of  the  multitude ;  and  as  they  had  often  been  diso¬ 
bedient,  they  were  now  sensible  that  such  disobedience  was 
disadvantageous  to  them,  and  that  they  had  still  thereby  fallen 
into  calamities. 

3.  But  this  man  was  admirable  for  his  virtue,  and  power¬ 
ful  in  making  men  give  credit  to  what  he  delivered,  not  only 
during  the  time  of  his  natural  life,  but  even  there  is  still  no 
one  of  the  Hebrews,  who  does  not  act  even  now,  as  if  Moses 
were  present  and  ready  to  punish  him,  if  he  should  do  any 
thing  that  is  indecent ;  nay,  there  is  no  one  but  is  obedient  to 
what  laws  he  ordained,  although  they  might  be  concealed  in 
their  transgressions.  There  are  also  many  other  demonstra¬ 
tions  that  his  power  was  more  than  human  :  for  still  some 
there  have  been  who  have  come  from  the  parts  beyond  Eu¬ 
phrates,  a  journey  of  four  months,  through  many  dangers, 
and  at  great  expenses  in  honour  of  our  temple;  and  yet 
when  they  had  offered  their  oblations,  could  not  partake  of 
their  own  sacrifices,  because  Moses  had  forbidden  it,  by 
somewhat  in  the  law  that  did  not  permit  them,  or  somewhat 
that  had  befallen  them,  which  our  ancient  customs  made  in¬ 
consistent  therewith  :  some  of  these  did  not  sacrifice  at  all, 
and  others  left  their  sacrifices  in  an  imperfect  condition,  nay, 
many  were  not  able  even  at  first  so  much  as  to  enter  into  the 


2*3 *  ANTIQUITIES,  &c.  Book  III 

temple,  but  went  their  ways  in  this  state,  as  preferring  a  sub¬ 
mission  to  the  laws  of  Moses,  before  the  fulfilling  of  their 
own  inclinations,  even  when  they  had  no  fear  upon  them  that 
any  body  could  convict  them,  but  only  out  of  a  reverence  to 
their  own  conscience.  Thus  this  legislator,  which  appeared 
to  be  divine,  made  this  man  to  be  esteemed  as  one  superior 
to  his  own  human  nature.  Nay,  farther,  a  little  before  the 
beginning  of  this  war  when  Claudius  was  emperor  of  the 
Romans,  and  Jshmael  was  our  high-priest,  and  when  so  great 
a  *famine  was  come  upon  us,  that  one  tenth  deal  [of  wheat] 
was  sold  for  four  drachmae,  and  when  no  less  than  seventy 
cori  of  flour  was  brought  into  the  temple,  at  the  feast  of  un¬ 
leavened  bread,  these  cori  are  thirty-one  Sicilian,  but  forty- 
one  Athenian  raedimni,)  not  one  of  the  priests  was  so  hardy 
as  to  eat  one  crumb  of  it,  even  while  so  great  a  distress  was 
on  the  land  ;  and  this  out  of  a  dread  of  the  law,  and  of  that 
wrath  which  God  rerains  against  acts  of  wickedness,  even 
when  no  one  can  accuse  the  actors.  Whence  we  are  not  to 
wonder  at  what  was  then  done,  while  to  this  very  day  the 
writings  left  by  Moses  have  so  great  a  force,  that  even  those 
that  hate  us  do  confess,  that  he  who  established  this  settle¬ 
ment  was  God,  and  that  it  was  by  the  means  of  Moses,  and 
of  his  virtue :  but  as  to  these  matters,  let  every  one  take  them 
as  he  thinks  fit. 


*  This  great  famine  in  (he  days  ot  Claudius,  is  again  mentioned  in 
Antiq.  13.  xx.  eh.  ii.  §  6.  vol.  vi.  and  Acts  xi.  28. 


£OOS£  IV. 

CONTAINING  THE  INTERVAL  OF  38  YEARS. 
[Fnm  the  rejection  of  that  generation  to  the  deatli  of  Moses.^ 


CHAP.  I. 

The  fight  of  the  Hebrews  icith  the  Canaanites,  without  the 
consent  of  Moses,  and  their  defeat. 

^  1  Now  this  life  of  the  Hebrews  in  the  wilderness  was  so 
disagreeable  and  troublesome  to  them,  and  they  were  so  tin- 
easy  at  it,  that  although  God  had  forbidden  them  to  meddle 
with  the  Canaanites,  yet  could  they  not  be  persuaded  to  be 
obedient  to  the  words  of  Moses,  and  to  be  quiet ;  but  suppos¬ 
ing  they  should  be  able  to  beat  their  enemies,  even  without 
his  approbation,  they  accused  him,  and  suspected  that  he 
made  it  his  business  to  keep  them  in  a  distressed  condition, 
that  they  might  always  stand  in  need  of  his  assistance.  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  they  resolved  to  fight  with  the  Canaanites,  and 
said,  that  God  gave  them  his  assistance,  not  out  of  regard  to 
Moses’s  in  ercessions,  but  because  he  took  care  of  their  en¬ 
tire  nation,  on  account  of  their  forefathers,  whose  affairs  he 
took  under  his  own  conduct;  as  also,  that  it  was  on  account 
of  their  own  virtue  that  he  had  formerly  procured  them  their 
liberty,  and  would  be  assisting  to  them,  now  they  were  wil¬ 
ling  to  take  pains  for  it.  They  also  said,  that  they  were  of 
themselves  of  abilities  sufficient  for  the  conquest  of  their 
enemies,  although  Moses  should  have  a  mind  to  alienate  God 
from  them  :  that,  however,  it  was  for  their  advantage  to  be 
their  own  masters,  and  not  so  far  to  rejoice  in  their  deliver¬ 
ance  from  the  indignities  they  endured  under  the  Egyptians, 
as  to  bear  the  tyranny  of  Moses  over  them,  and  to  suffer 
themselves  to  be  deluded,  and  live  according  to  his  pleasure, 
as  though  God  did  not  foretell  what  concerns  us,  out  of  his 
kindness  to  him,  as  if  they  were  not  all  the  posterity  of 
Abraham,  that  God  made  him  alone  the  author  of  all  the 
knowledge  we  have,  and  we  must  still  learn  it  from  him  : 
that  it  would  be  a  piece  of  prudence  to  oppose  his  arrogant 
pretences,  and  to  put  their  confidence  in  God,  and  to  resolve 


23S 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  IV. 


to  take  possession  of  that  land  which  he  had  promised  them, 
and  not  to  give  ear  to  him,  who,  on  this  account,  and  under  the 
pretence  of  divine  authority,  forbade  them  so  to  do.  Con¬ 
sidering,  therefore,  the  distressed  state  they  were  in  at  pre¬ 
sent,  and  that  in  those  desert  places  they  were  still  to  expect 
things  would  be  worse  with  them,  they  resolved  to  fight  with 
the  Canaanites,  as  submitting  only  to  God,  their  supreme 
commander,  and  not  waiting  for  any  assistance  from  their  le¬ 
gislator. 

2  When,  therefore,  they  had  come  to  this  resolution,  as 
being  best  for  them,  they  went  among  their  enemies;  but 
those  enemies  were  not  dismayed  either  at  the  attack  itself, 
or  at  the  great  multitude  that  made  it,  and  received  them  with 
great  courage.  Many  of  the  Hebrews  were  slain ;  and  the 
remainder  of  the  army,  upon  the  disorder  of  their  troops, 
were  pursued,  and  fled,  after  a  shameful  manner,  to  their 
camp.  Whereupon,  this  unexpected  misfortune  made  them 
quite  despond  ;  and  they  hopod  for  nothing  that  was  good,  as 
gathering  from  it,  that  this  afiliction  came  from  the  wrath  of 
God,  because  they  rashly  went  out  to  war  witho  t  his  appro¬ 
bation. 

3.  But  when  Moses  saw  how  deeply  they  were  affected 
with  this  defeat,  and  being  afraid  lest  the  enemies  should  grow 
insolent  upon  this  victory,  and  should  be  desirous  of  gaining 
still  greater  glory,  and  should  attack  them,  resolved  that  it 
was  proper  to  withdraw  the  army  into  the  wilderness  to  a  far¬ 
ther  distance  from  the  Canaanites :  so  the  multitude  gave 
themselves  Up  again  to  his  conduct,  for  they  were  sensible, 
that  without  his  care  for  them,  their  affairs  could  not  be  in  a 
good  condition  :  and  he  caused  the  host  to  remove,  and  went 
farther  into  the  wilderness,  as  intending  there  to  let  them  rest, 
and  not  to  permit  them  to  fight  the  Canaanites  before  God 
should  afford  them  a  more  favourable  opportunity. 

CHAP.  II. 

The  sedition  of  Corah ,  and  of  the  multitude  against  Moses , 
and  against  his  brother ,  concerning  the  priesthood. 

§  1.  That  which  is  usually  the  case  with  great  armies,  and 
especially  upon  ill  success,  to  be  hard  to  be  pleased,  and  go¬ 
verned  with  difficulty,  did  now  befall  the  Jews,  for  they  being 
in  number  six  hundred  thousand,  and  by  reason  of  their  great 
multitude  not  readily  subject  to  their  governors,  even  in  pros¬ 
perity,  they  at  this  time  were  more  than  usually  angry,  both 
against  one  another,  and  against  their  leader,  because,  of  the 


OF  TIIE  JEWS. 


239 


C hap.  II. 

distress  they  were  in,  and  the  calamities  they  then  endured. 
Such  a  sedition  overtook  them,  as  we  have  not  the  like  ex¬ 
ample  either  among  the  Greeks  or  the  Barbarians,  by  which 
they  were  in  danger  of  being  all  destroyed,  but  were,  notwith¬ 
standing,  saved  by  Moses,  who  would  not  remember  that  he 
had  been  almost  stoned  to  death  by  them.  Nor  did  God  neg¬ 
lect  to  prevent  their  ruin  ;  but,  notwithstanding  the  indigni¬ 
ties  they  had  offered  to  their  legislator,  and  the  laws,  and 
[their  disobedience  to]  the  commandments  which  he  had  sent 
them  by  Moses,  he  delivered  them  from  those  terrible  calami¬ 
ties,  which,  without  his  providential  care,  had  been  brought 
upon  them  by  this  sedition.  So  i  will  first  explain  the  cause 
whence  this  sedition  arose,  and  then  will  give  an  account  of 
the  sedition  itself ;  as  also  of  whai  settlements  Moses  made 
for  their  government,  after  it  was  over. 

2.  Corah,  an  Hebrew  of  principal  account,  both  by  his 
family,  and  by  his  wealth,  one  that  was  also  able  to  speak 
well,  and  one  that  could  easily  persuade  the  people  by  his 
speeches,  saw  that  Moses  was  in  exceeding  great  dignity,  and 
was  uneasy  at  it,  and  envied  him  on  that  account,  (he  was  of 
the  same  tribe  with  Moses,  and  of  kin  to  him,)  was  particu¬ 
larly  grieved,  because  he  thought  he  better  deserved  that 
honourable  post  on  account  of  his  great  riches,  and  not  infe¬ 
rior  to  him  in  his  birth.  So  he  raised  a  clamour  against  him 
among  the  Levites,  who  were  of  the  same  tribe,  and  espe¬ 
cially  among  his  kindred,  saying,  “  That  it  was  a  very  sad 
thing  that  they  should  overlook  Moses,  while  he  hunted  after, 
and  paved  the  way  to  glory  for  himself,  and  by  ill  arts,  should 
obtain  it  under  the  pretence  of  God’s  command,  while  con¬ 
trary  to  the  laws,  he  had  given  the  priesthood  to  Aaron,  not 
by  the  common  suffrage  of  the  multitude,  but  by  his  own 
vote  as  bestowing,  dignities  in  a  tyrannical  way  on  whom  he 
pleased.  lie  added,  that  this  concealed  way  of  imposing  on 
them  was  harder  to  be  borne,  than  if  it  had  been  done  by  an 
open  force  upon  them  ;  because  he  did  now  not  only  take 
away  their  power  without  their  consent,  but  even  while  they 
were  unapprized  of  his  contrivances  against  them  ;  for  who¬ 
soever  is  conscious  to  himself  that  he  deserves  any  dignity, 
aims  to  get  it  by  persuasion,  and  not  by  an  arrogant  method 
of  violence ;  but  those  that  believe  it  impossible  to  obtain 
those  honours  justly,  they  make  a  show  of  goodness,  and  do 
not  introduce  force,  but  by  cunning  tricks  grow  wickedly 
powerful;  that  it  was  proper  for  the  multitude  to  punish 
such  men,  even  while  they  think  themselves  concealed  in 
their  designs,  and  not  suffer  them  to  gain  strength,  till  they 
have  them  for  their  open  enemies.  For  what  account,  added 


240 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  IV. 


he,  is  Moses  able  to  give,  why  he  has  bestowed  the  priest¬ 
hood  on  Aaron,  and  his  sons  ?  for  if  God  had  determined  to 
bestow  that  honour  on  one  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  I  am  more 
worthy  of  it  than  he  is,  I  myself  being  equal  to  Moses  by  my 
family,  and  superior  to  him  both  in  riches  and  in  age:  but  if 
God  had  determined  to  bestow  it  on  the  eldest  tribe,  that  of 
Reubel  might  have  it  most  justly  ;  and  then  Dathan,  and  Abi- 
ram,and  [On,  the  son  of]  Peleth,  would  have  it,  for  these  are 
the  oldest  men  of  that  tribe,  and  potent  on  account  of  their 
great  wealth  also.” 

3.  Now  Corah,  when  he  had  said  this,  had  a  mind  to  ap¬ 
pear  to  take  care  of  the  public  welfare,  but  in  reality  he  was 
endeavouring  to  procure  to  have  that  dignity  transferred  by 
the  multitude  to  himself.  Thus  did  he,  out  of  a  malignant 
design,  but  with  plausible  words,  discourse  to  those  of  his 
own  tribe;  and  when  these  words  did  gradually  spread  to 
more  of  the  people,  and  when  the  hearers  still  added  to  w  hat 
tended  to  the  scandals  that  were  cast  upon  Aaron,  the  whole 
army  was  full  of  them.  Now  of  those  that  conspired  with 
Corah,  there  were  two  hundred  and  fifty,  and  those  of  the 
principal  men  also,  who  were  eager  to  have  the  priesthood 
taken  away  from  Moses’s  brother,  and  to  bring  him  into  dis¬ 
grace  :  nay,  the  multitude  themselves  were  provoked  to  be 
seditious,  and  attempted  to  stone  Moses  ;  and  gathered  them¬ 
selves  together  after  an  indecent  manner,  with  confusion  and 
disorder.  And  now  they  all  were,  in  a  tumultuous  manner, 
raising  a  clamour  before  the  tabernacle  of  God,  to  prosecute 
the  tyrant,  and  to  relieve  the  multitude  from  their  slavery  un¬ 
der  him,  who,  under  colour  of  the  divine  commands,  laid  vio¬ 
lent  injunctions  upon  them;  for  that  had  it  been  God,  who 
chose  one  that  was  to  perform  the  office  of  a  priest,  lie  would 
have  raised  a  worthy  person  to  that  dignity,  and  would  not 
have  produced  such  an  one  as  was  inferior  to  many  others, 
nor  have  given  him  that  office ;  and  in  that  case  had  he  judg¬ 
ed  it  fit  to  bestow  it  on  Aaron,  he  would  have  permitted  it  to 
the  multitude  to  bestow  it,  and  not  have  left  it  to  be  bestowed 
by  his  own  brother. 

5  Now,  although  Moses  had  a  great  while  ago  foreseen 
this  calumny  of  Corah’s,  and  had  seen  that  the  people  were 
irritated,  yet  was  he  not  affrighted  at  it ;  and  being  of  good 
courage,  because  he  had  given  them  right  advice  about  their 
affairs,  and  knowing  that  his  brother  had  been  made  partaker 
of  the  priesthood  at  the  command  of  God,  and  not  by  his  ow'n 
favour  to  him,  he  came  to  the  assembly ;  and,  as  for  the  mul¬ 
titude,  he  said  not  a  word  to  them,  but  spake  as  loud  to  Co¬ 
rah  as  he  could ;  and  being  very  skilful  in  making  speeches, 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


241 


Chap.  11. 

and  having  this  natural  talent  among  others,  that  he  could 
greatly  move  the  multitude  with  his  discourses,  he  said,  “  O 
Corah,  both  thou,  and  all  these  with  thee,  (pointing  to  the 
two  hundred  and  fifty  men,)  seem  to  be  worthy  of  this  ho¬ 
nour  ;  nor  do  1  pretend  but  that  this  whole  company  may  be 
worthy  of  the  like  dignity,  although  they  may  not  be  so  rich, 
or  so  great  as  you  are  :  nor  have  I  taken  and  given  this  office 
to  my  brother,  because  he  excelled  others  in  riches,  for  thou 
exceedest*  us  both  in  the  greatness  of  thy  wealth ;  nor  in¬ 
deed  because  he  was  of  an  eminent  family,  for  God,  by  giv¬ 
ing  us  the  same  common  ancestor,  has  made  our  families 
equal :  nay,  nor  was  it  out  of  brotherly  affection,  which  an¬ 
other  might  yet  have  justly  done ;  for  certainly,  unless  I  had 
bestowed  this  honour  out  of  regard  to  God,  and  to  his  laws, 
I  had  not  passed  by  myself,  and  given  it  to  another,  as  being 
nearer  of  kin  to  myself  than  to  my  brother,  and  having  a  clo¬ 
ser  intimacy  with  myself  than  i  have  with  him  ;  for  surely  it 
would  not  be  a  wise  thing  for  me  to  expose  myself  to  the 
dangers  of  offending,  and  to  besfew  the  happy  employment 
on  this  account  upon  another.  But  I  am  above  such  base 
practices :  nor  would  God  have  overlooked  this  matter,  and 
seen  himself  thus  despised,  nor  would  he  have  suffered  you 
to  be  ignorant  of  what  you  were  to  do,  in  order  to  please 
him  ;  but  he  hath  himself  chosen  one  that  is  to  perform  that 
sacred  office  to  him,  and  thereby  freed  us  from  that  care. 
So  that  it  was  not  a  thing  that  I  pretend  to  give,  but  only  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  determination  of  God ;  I  therefore  propose  it 
still  to  be  contended  for  by  such  as  please  to  put  in  for  it, 
only  desiring  that  he  who  has  been  already  preferred,  and 
has  already  obtained  it,  may  be  allowed  now  also  to  offer 
himself  for  a  candidate.  He  prefers  your  peace,  and  your 
living  without  sedition,  to  this  honourable  employment,  al¬ 
though  in  truth  it  was  with  your  approbation  that  he  obtain¬ 
ed  it;  for  though  God  were  the  donor,  yet  do  we  not  offend 
when  we  think  fit  to  accept  of  it  with  your  good-will ;  yet 
would  it  have  been  an  instance  of  impiety  not  to  have  taken 
that  honourable  employment  when  he  offered  it:  nay,  it  had 
been  exceeding  unreasonable,  when  God  had  thought  fit  any¬ 
one  shoftld  have  it  for  all  time  to  come,  and  had  made  it  se¬ 
cure  and  firm  to  him,  to  have  refused  it.  However,  he 
himself  will  judge  again  who  it  shall  be,  whom  he  would  have 
to  offer  sacrifices  to  him,  and  to  have  the  direction  of  mat- 


*  Reland  here  takes  notice,  that  although  our  Bibles  say  little  or  no. 
thing  of  these  riches  of  Corah,  yet  that  both  the  Jews  and  Mohamme¬ 
dans,  as  well  as  Josephus,  are  full  of  it. 

X 


VOL.  J. 


242 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  I V- 


ters  of  religion :  for  it  is  absurd  that  Corah,  who  is  ambi¬ 
tious  of  this  honour,  should  deprive  God  of  the  power  of 
giving  it  to  whom  he  pleases.  Put  an  end,  therefore,  to  your 
sedition  and  disturbance  on  this  account:  and  to-morrow 
morning  do  every  one  of  you  that  desire  the  priesthood,  bring 
a  censer  from  home,  and  come  hither  with  incense  and  fire; 
and  do  thou,  O  Corah,  leave  the  judgment  to  God,  and  await 
to  see  on  which  side  he  will  give  his  determination  upon  this 
occasion,  but  do  not  thou  make  thyself  greater  than  God. 
Do  thou  also  come,  that  this  contest  about  this  honourable 
employment  may  receive  determination.  And  1  suppose  we 
may  admit  Aaron  without  offence,  to  offer  himself  to  this 
scrutiny,  since  he  is  of  the  same  lineage  with  thyself,  and 
has  done  nothing  in  his  priesthood  that  can  be  liable  to  ex¬ 
ception.  Come  ye,  therefore,  together,  and  offer  your  in¬ 
cense  in  public  before  all  the  people ;  and  when  you  offer 
it,  he  whose  sacrifice  God  shall  accept,  shall  be  ordained  to 
the  priesthood,  and  shall  be  clear  of  the  present  calumny  on 
Aaron,  as  if  I  had  grantedPliim  that  favour  because  he  was 
my  brother.” 

CIIAP.  III. 

How  those  that,  stirred  up  this  sedition  were  destroyed ,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  will  of  God  ;  and  how  Aaron ,  Moses’s  bro¬ 
ther,  both  he  and  his  posterity,  retained  the  priesthood. 

§  1.  When  Moses  had  said  this,  the  multitude  left  off  the 
turbulent  behaviour  they  had  indulged,  and  the  suspicion 
they  had  of  Moses,  and  commended  what  he  had  said, for  those 
proposals  were  good,  and  were  so  esteemed  of  the  people. 
At  that  time,  therefore,  they  dissolved  the  assembly.  But  on 
the  next  day  they  came  to  the  congregation  in  order  to  be 
present  at  the  sacrifice,  and  at  the  determination  that  was  to 
be  made  between  the  candidates  for  the  priesthood.  Now 
this  congregation  proved  a  turbulent  one,  and  the  multitude 
were  in  great  suspense  in  expectation  of  what  was  to  be  dene; 
for  some  of  them  would  have  been  pleased  if  Moses  had  been 
convicted  of  evil  practices,  but  the  wiser  sort  desired  that 
they  might  be  delivered  from  the  present  disorder  and  dis¬ 
turbance;  for  they  were  afraid,  that  if  this  sedition  went  on, 
the  good  order  of  their  settlement  would  rather  be  destroy¬ 
ed  ;  but  the  whole  body  of  the  people  do  naturally  delight 
in  clamours,  against  their  governors,  and  by  changing  their 
opinions  upon  the  harrangues  of  every  speaker,  disturb  the 
public  tranquility.  And  now  Moses  sent  messengers  for 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


243 


Chap.  111. 

Abiram  and  Dathan,  and  ordered  them  to  come  to  the  assem¬ 
bly,  and  wait  there  for  the  holy  offices  that  were  to  be  per¬ 
formed.  But  they  answered  the  messenger,  that  they  would 
not  obey  his  summons;  nay,  would  not  overlook  Moses’s  be¬ 
haviour,  who  was  growing  too  great  for  them  by  evil  prac¬ 
tices.  Now  when  Moses  heard  of  this  their  answer,  he  de¬ 
sired  the  heads  of  the  people  to  follow  him,  and  he  went  to 
the  faction  of  Dathan,  not  thinking  it  any  frightful  thing  at  all 
to  go  to  these  insolent  people ;  so  they  made  no  opposition, 
but  went  along  with  him.  But  Dathan  and  his  associates, 
when  they  understood  that  Moses,  and  the  principal  of  the 
people  were  coming  to  them,  they  came  out  with  their  wives 
and  children,  and  stood  before  their  tents,  and  looked  to  see 
what  Moses  would  do.  They  had  also  their  servants  about 
them  to  defend  themselves,  in  case  Moses  should  use  force 
against  them 

2.  But  he  came  near,  and  lifted  up  his  hands  to  heaven, 
and  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  in  order  to  be  heard  by  the 
whole  multitude;  and  said,  “O  Lord  of  the  creatures  that 
are  in  the  heaven,  in  the  earth,  and  in  the  sea;  for  thou  art  the 
most  authentic  witness  to  what  I  have  done,  that  it  has  been 
all  done  by  thy  appointment,  and  that  itwas  thou  that  afford- 
edst  us  assistance  when  we  attempted  any  thing,  and  shewedst 
mercy  on  the  Hebrews  in  all  their  distress,  do  thou  come 
now,  and  hear  all  that  I  say,  for  no  action  or  thought  escapes 
thy  knowledge ;  so  that  thou  will  not  disdain  to  speak  what 
is  true,  for  my  vindication,  without  any  regard  to  the  un¬ 
grateful  imputations  of  these  men.  As  for  what  was  done 
before  I  was  born,  thou  knowest  best,  as  not  learning  them 
by  report,  but  seeing  them  and  being  present  with  them  when 
they  were  done ;  but,  for  what  has  been  done  of  late,  and 
which  these  men,  although  they  know  them  well  enough, 
unjustly  pretend  to  suspect,  be  thou  my  witness.  When  I 
lived  a  private,  quiet  life,  I  left  those  good  things,  which  by 
my  own  diligence,  and  by  thy  counsel,  f  enjoyed  with  Raguel 
my  father-in-law,  and  I  gave  myself  up  to  this  people,  and 
underwent  many  miseries  on  their  account.  I  also  bore 
great  labours,  at  first  in  order  to  obtain  liberty  for  them,  and 
now  in  order  to  their  preservation  ;  and  have  always  showed 
myself  ready  to  assist  them  in  every  distress  of  theirs.  Now, 
therefore,  since  I  am  suspected  by  those  very  men,  whose 
being  is  owing  to  my  labours,  come  thou,  as  it  is  reasonable 
to  hope  thou  wilt :  thou,  I  say,  who  shewedst  me  that  fire  at 
mount  Sinai,  and  madest  me  to  hear  its  voice,  and  to  see  the 
several  wonders  which  that  place  afforded  me :  thou  who 
comraandest  me  to  go  to  Egypt,  and  declare  thy  will  to  this 


244 


Book  IV 


ANTIQUITIES 

people  :  thou  who  disturbedst  the  happy  state  of  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  and  gavest  us  the  opportunity  of  flying  away  from  our 
slavery  under  them,  and  madest  the  dominion  of  Pharaoh  in- 
ferior  to  my  dominion :  thou  who  didst  make  the  sea  dry¬ 
land  for  us,  when  we  knew  not  whither  to  go,  and  didst  over¬ 
whelm  the  Egyptians  with  those  destructive  waves  which  had 
been  divided  for  us  :  thou  who  didst  bestow  upon  us  the  se¬ 
curity  of  weapons  when  we  were  naked:  thou  who  didst 
make  the  fountains  that  were  corrupted  to  flow  so  as  to  be 
fit  for  drinking,  and  didst  furnish  us  with  water  that  came  out 
of  the  rocks,  when  we  were  in  the  greatest  want  of  it :  thou 
who  didst  preserve  our  lives  witli  [quails,]  which  was  food 
from  the  sea,  when  the  fruits  of  the  ground  failed  us  :  thou 
who  didst  send  us  such  food  from  heaven,  as  had  never  been 
seen  before  :  thou  who  didst  suggest  to  us  the  knowledge  of* 
thy  laws,  and  appoint  us  a  form  of  government :  come  thou,  I 
say,  O  Lord  of  the  whole  world,  and  that  as  such  a  judge  and 
a  witness  to  me  as  cannot  be  bribed,  and  show  how  I  have 
never  admitted  of  any  gift  against  justice  from  any  of  the  He¬ 
brews  ;  and  have  never  condemned  a  poor  man  that  ought 
to  have  been  acquitted,  on  account  of  one  that  was  rich  ;  and 
have  never  attempted  to  hurt  this  commonwealth.  I  am  now 
here  present,  and  am  suspected  of  a  thing  the  remotest  from 
my  intentions,  as  if  I  had  given  the  priesthood  to  Aaron  not 
at  thy  command,  but  out  of  my  own  favour  to  him,  do  thou  at 
this  time  demonstrate,  that  all  things  are  administered  by  thy 
providence,  and  that  nothing  happens  by  chance,  but  is  go¬ 
verned  by  thy  will,  and  thereby  attains  its  end:  as  also  de¬ 
monstrate,  that  thou  takest  care  of  those  that  have  done  good 
to  the  Hebrews  ;  demonstrate  this,  I  say,  by  the  punishment 
of  Abiram  and  Dathan,  who  condemn  thee  as  an  insensible 
being,  and  one  overcome  by  my  contrivances.  This  wilt 
thou  do  by  inflicting  such  an  open  punishment  on  these  men, 
who  so  madly  fly  in  the  face  of  thy  glory,  as  will  take  them 
out  ol  the  world,  not  in  an  ordinary  manner,  but  so  that  it 
may  appear  they  do  not  die  after  the  manner  of  other  men, 
let  that  ground  on  which  they  tread  upon,  open  about  them, 
and  consume  them  with  their  families  and  goods.  This  will 
be  a  demonstration  of  thy  power  to  all  men  ;  and  this  method 
of  their  sufferings  will  be  an  instruction  of  wisdom  for  those 
that  entertain  profane  sentiments  of  thee.  By  this  means  I 
shall  be  found  a  good  servant,  in  the  precepts  thou  hast  given 
by  me.  But  if  the  calumnies  they  have  raised  against  me  be 
true,  mayest  thou  preserve  these  men  from  every  evil  acci¬ 
dent,  and  bring  all  that  destruction  upon  me  which  I  have  im¬ 
precated  upon  them.  And  when  thou  hast  inflicted  punish* 


OF  THE  JEW'S 


245 


Chap.  III. 

merit  on  those  that  have  endeavoured  to  deal  unjustly  with  this 
people,  bestow  upon  them  concord  and  peace.  Save  this 
multitude  that  follow  thy  commandments,  and  preserve  them 
free  from  harm,  and  let  them  not  partake  of  the  punishment 
of  those  that  have  sinned  :  for  thou  knowest  thyself,  it  is  not 
just,  that  for  the  wickedness  of  those  men,  the  whole  body  of 
the  Israelites  should  suffer  punishment.” 

3.  When  Moses  had  said  this,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  the 
ground  was  moved  on  a  sudden ;  and  the  agitation  that  set  it 
in  motion  was  like  that  which  the  wind  produces  in  waves  of 
the  sea.  The  people  were  all  affrighted ;  and  the  ground 
that  was  about  their  tents  sunk  down,  at  the  great  noise,  that 
terrible  sound,  and  carried  whatsoever  was  dear  to  the  sedi¬ 
tious  into  itself,  who  so  entirely  perished,  that  there  was  not 
the  least  appearance  that  any  men  had  ever  been  seen  there, 
the  earth  that  had  opened  itself  about  them  closing  again,  and 
becoming  entire  as  it  was  before,  insomuch,  that  such  as  saw 
it  afterward  did  not  perceive  that  any  such  accident  had  hap¬ 
pened  to  it.  Thus  did  these  men  perish,  and  become  a  de¬ 
monstration  of  the  power  of  God.  And  truly,  any  one  would 
lament  them,  not  only  on  account  of  this  calamity  that  befell 
them,  which  ^et  deserves  our  commiseration,  but  also  because 
their  kindred  were  pleased  with  their  sufferings ;  for  they 
forgot  the  relation  they  bare  to  them,  and  at  the  sight  of  this 
sad  accident  approved  of  the  judgment  given  against  them  ; 
and  because  they  looked  upon  the  people  about  Dathan  as 
pestilent  men,  they  thought  they  perished  as  such,  and  did  not 
grieve  for  them. 

3.  And  now  Moses  called  for  those  that  contended  about 
the  priesthood,  that  trial  might  be  made  who  should  be  priest, 
and  that  he  w  hose  sacrfice  God  was  most  pleased  with,  might 
be  ordained  to  that  function.  There  attended  two  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  who  indeed  were  honoured  by  the  people,  not 
only  on  account  of  the  power  of  their  ancestors,  but  also  on 
account  of  their  own,  in  which  they  excelled  the  others; 
Aaron  also  and  Corah  came  forth,  and  they  all  offered  incense, 
in  those  censers  of  theirs  which  they  brought  with  them  be¬ 
fore  the  tabernacle.  Hereupon  so  great  a  fire  shone  out,  as 
no  one  ever  saw  in  any  that  is  made  by  the  hand  of  man,  nei¬ 
ther  in  those  eruptions  out  of  the  earth  that  are  caused  by 
subterraneous  burnings,  nor  in  such  fires  as  arises  of  their  own 
accord  in  the  woods,  when  the  agitation  is  caused  by  the  trees 
rubbing  one  against  another ;  but  this  fire  was  very  bright, 
and  had  a  terrible  flame,  such  as  is  kindled  at  the  command 
of  Gotf:  by  whose  irruptions  on  them,  all  the  company,  and 


.240 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  IJ 


Corah  himself,  were  *destroyed,  and  this  so  entirely,  that 
their  very  bodies  left  no  remains  behind  them.  Aaron  alone 
was  preserved,  and  not  at  all  hurt  by  the  fire,  because  it  was 
God  that  sent  the  fire  to  burn  those  only  who  ought  to  be 
burned.  Hereupon  Moses,  after  these  men  were  destroyed, 
was  desirous  that  the  memory  of  this  judgment  might  be  de¬ 
livered  down  to  posterity,  and  that  future  ages  might  be  ac¬ 
quainted  with  it;  and  so  he  commanded  Eleazer,  the  son  of 
Aaron,  to  put  their  censers  near  the  brazen  altar,  that  they 
might  be  a  memorial  to  posterity  of  what  these  men  suffered, 
for  supposing  that  the  power  of  God  might  be  eluded.  And 
thus  Aaron  was  no  longer  esteemed  to  have  the  priesthood 
by  the  favour  of  Moses,  but  by  the  public  judgment  of  God  : 
and  thus  he  and  his  children  peaceably  enjoyed  the  honour 
afterward. 


CHAP.  IV. 

IV hat  happened  to  the  Hebrews  during  thirty-eight  years  in 

the  wilderness. 

§  1.  However,  this  sedition  was  so  far  from  ceasing  upon 
this  destruction,  that  it  grew  much  stronger,  and  became 
more  intolerable.  And  the  occasion  of  its  growing  worse 
was  ef  that  nature,  as  made  it  likely  the  calamity  would 
never  cease,  but  last  for  a  long  time  :  for  the  men  believing 
already  that  nothing  is  done  without  the  providence  of  God, 
would  have  it  that  these  things  came  thus  to  pass  not  without 
God’s  favour  to  Moses  ;  they,  therefore,  laid  the  blame  upon 
him,  that  God  was  angry,  and  that  this  happened  not  so  much 
because  of  the  wickedness  of  those  that  were  punished,  as 
because  Moses  procured  the  punishment ;  and  that  these 
men  had  been  destroyed  without  any  sin  of  theirs,  only  be¬ 
cause  they  were  zealous  about  the  divine  worship  ;  as  also 
that  he  who  had  been  the  cause  of  this  diminution  of  the 
people  by  destroying  so  many  men,  and  those  the  most  ex¬ 
cellent  of  them  all,  besides  his  escaping  an}'  punishment  him¬ 
self,  had  now  given  the  priesthood  to  his  brother  so  firmly, 
that  nobody  could  any  longer  dispute  it  with  him ;  for  no  one 


*  It  appears  here,  and  from  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch,  and,  in  effect, 
from  the  Psalmist,  as  also  from  the  Apostolical  Consiimtions,  from 
Clement’s  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  from  Ignatius’s  Epistle  to  the 
Magnesians,  and  from  Eusebius,  that  Corah  wasnotsvvallowed  up  with 
the  Reubenites,  but  burnt  with  the  Lcvites,  of  his  own  tribe.  .See  Es» 
say  on  the  Old  Testament,  p.  0-1,  65. 


OF  TIIE  JEWS. 


(Jhap.  IF. 


else,  to  be  sure,  could  now  put  in  for  it,  since  lie  must  have 
seen  those  that  first  did  so  to  have  miserably  perished.  Nay, 
besides  this,  the  kindred  of  those  that  were  destroyed  made 
great  entreaties  to  the  multitude  to  abate  the  arrogance  of 
Moses,  because  it  would  be  safest  for  them  so  to  do. 

2.  Now  Moses,  upon  his  hearing  for  a  good  while  that  the 
people  were  tumultuous,  was  afraid  that  they  would  attempt 
some  other  innovation,  and  that  some  great  and  sad  calamity 
would  be  the  consequence,  he  called  the  multitude  to  a  con¬ 
gregation,  and  patiently  heard  what  apology  they  made  for 
themselves,  without  opposing  them,  and  this  lest  he  should  im- 
bitter  the  multitude  :  he  only  desired  the  heads  of  the  tribes 
to  bring  their  *rods,  with  the  names  of  their  tribes  inscribed 
upon  them,  ‘land  that  he  should  receive  the  priesthood  in 
whose  rod  God  should  give  a  sign.  This  was  agreed  to.  So 
the  rest  brought  their  rods,  as  did  Aaron  also,  who  had  writ¬ 
ten  the  tribe  of  Levi  on  his  rod.  These  rods  Moses  laid  up 
in  the  tabernacle  of  God.  On  the  next  day  he  brought  the 
rods,  which  were  known  from  one  another  by  those  who 
brought  them,  and  having  distinctly  noted  them,  as  had  the 
multitude  also;  and  as  to  the  rest,  in  the  same  form  Moses 
had  received  them  in  that  they  saw  them  still  ;  but  they  also 
saw  buds  and  branches  grow  out  of  Aaron's  rod,  with  ripe 
fruits  upon  them  ;  they  were  almonds,  the  rod  having  been 
cut  out  of  that  tree.  The  people  were  so  amazed  at  this 
strangs  sight,  that  though  Moses  and  Aaron  were  before  un¬ 
der  some  degree  of  hatred,  they  now  laid  that  hatred  aside, 
and  began  to  admire  the  judgment  of  God  concerning  them  ; 
so  that  hereafter  they  applauded  what  God  had  decreed,  and 
permitted  Aaron  to  enjoy  the  priesthood  peaceably.  And 
thus  God  ordained  him  priest  three  several  times  ;  and  he  re¬ 
tained  that  honour  without  farther  disturbance.  And  hereby 
this  sedition  of  the  Hebrews,  which  had  been  a  great  one, 
and  had  lasted  a  great  while,  was  at  last  composed. 

3.  And  now',  Moses,  because  the  tribe  of  Levi  was  made 
free  from  war,  and  warlike  expeditions,  and  was  set  apart 
for  the  divine  worship,  lest  they  should  want,  and  seek  after 
the  necessaries  of  life,  and  so  neglect  the  temple,  commanded 
the  Hebrews,  according  to  the  will  of  God,  that  when  they 
should  gain  the  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  they  should 
assign  forty-eight  good  and  fair  cities  to  the  Levites;  and 
permit  them  to  enjoy  their  suburbs,  as  far  as  the  limits  of  two 


"  Concerning  these  twelve  rods  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  see  f?t 
Clement’s  account,  much  larger  than  that  in  our  Bibles,  1  Epistle,  §  43 
as  is  Josephus’s  present  account  in  some  measure  larger  also. 


248 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  IK 


thousand  cubits  would  extend  from  the  walls  of  the  city. 
And  besides  this,  he  appointed  that  the  people  should  pay  the 
tythe  of  their  annual  fruits  of  the  earth,  both  to  the  Levites 
and  to  the  priests.  And  this  is  what  that  tribe  receives  of  the 
multitude  ;  but  I  think  it  necessary  to  set  down  what  is  paid 
by  ail  peculiarly  to  the  priests. 

4.  Accordingly,  he  commanded  the  Levites  to  yield  Op  to 
the  priests  thirteen  of  their  forty-eight  cities,  and  to  set 
apart  for  them  the  tenth  part  of  the  tythe  which  they  every 
year  receive  of  the  people;  as  also,  that  it  was  but  just  to 
offer  to  God  the  first-fruits  of  the  entire  product  of  the 
ground  ;  and  that  they  should  offer  the  first-born  of  those 
four-footed  beasts  that  are  appointed  for  sacrifices,  if  it  be 
a  male,  to  the  priests,  to  be  slain,  that  they,  and  their  entire 
families,  may  eat  them  in  the  holy  city  ;  but  that  the  owners 
of  those  first-born  which  are  not  appointed  for  sacrifices  in 
the  laws  of  our  country,  should  bring  a  shekel  and  a  half  in 
their  stead  ;  but  for  the  first-born  of  a  man,  five  shekels  ; 
that  they  should  also  have  the  first-fruits  out  of  the  shearing 
of  the  sheep  ;  and  that  when  any  baked  bread-corn,  and 
made  loaves  of  it,  they  should  give  somewhat  of  what  they 
had  baked  to  them.  Moreover,  when  any  made  a  sacred 
vow,  I  mean  those  that  are  called  Nazarites,  that  suffer  their 
hair  to  grow  long,  and  use  no  wine,  when  they  #consecrate 
their  hair,  and  offer  it  for  a  sacrifice,  they  are  to  allot  that 
hair  for  the  priests,  [to  be  thrown  into  the  fire.]  Such  also 
as  dedicate  themselves  to  God,  as  a  corban,  which  denotes 
W'hat  the  Greeks  call  a  gift,  when  they  are  desirous  of  being 
freed  from  that  ministration,  are  to  lay  down  money  for  the 
priests  thirty  shekels,  if  it  be  a  woman,  and  fifty  if  it  be  a 
man  ;  but  if  any  be  too  poor  to  pay  the  appointed  sum,  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  the  priests  to  determine  that  sum  as  they 
think  fit.  And  if  any  slay  beasts  at  home  for  a  private  fes¬ 
tival,  but  not  for  a  religious  one,  they  are  obliged  to  bring  the 
maw,  and  the  cheek  [or  breast,]  and  the  right  shoulder  of  the 
sacrifice,  to  the  priests.  With  these  Moses  contrived  that 
the  priests  should  be  plentifully  maintained,  besides  what 
they  had  out  of  those  offerings  for  sins,  which  the  people 
gave  them,  as  I  have  set  it  down  in  the  foregoing  book.  He 
also  ordered,  that  out  of  every  thing  allotted  for  the  priests, 
their  servants,  [their  sons,]  their  daughters,  and  their  wives, 
should  partake,  as  well  as  themselves,  excepting  what  came 
to  them  out  of  the  sacrifices  that  were  offered  for  sins  ;  for 


*  Grotius,  on  Numb,  vi  18,  takes  notice,  that  the  Greeks  also,  as  well 
as  the  Jews,  sometimes  consecrated  the  hair  of  theirheads  to  the  gods. 


OF  TIIE  JEWS. 


249 


Chap.  IV. 

of  those  none  but  the  males  of  the  family  of  the  priests  might 
eat,  and  this  in  the  temple  also,  and  that  on  the  same  day 
they  were  offered. 

5.  When  Moses  had  made  these  constitutions,  after  the  se¬ 
dition  was  over,  he  removed,  together  with  the  whole  army, 
and  came  to  the  borders  of  Idumea.  He  then  sent  ambassa¬ 
dors  to  the  king  of  the  Idumeans,  and  desired  him  to  give  him 
a  passage  through  his  country,  and  agreed  to  send  him  what 
hostages  he  should  desire,  to  secure  him  from  any  injury. 
He  desired  him  also,  that  he  would  allow  his  army  liberty  to 
buy  provisions  ;  and,  if  he  insisted  upon  it,  he  would  pay 
down  a  price  for  the  very  water  they  should  drink.  But  the 
king  was  not  pleased  with  this  embassage  from  Moses  ;  nor 
did  he  allow  a  passage  for  the  army,  but  brought  his  people 
armed  to  meet  Moses,  and  to  hinder  them,  in  case  they  should 
endeavour  to  force  their  passage.  Upon  which  Moses  con- 
suited  God  by  the  oracle,  who  would  not  have  him  begin  the 
war  first  ;  and  so  he  withdrew  his  forces,  and  travelled  round 
about  through  the  wilderness. 

6.  Then  it  was  that  Miriam,  the  sister  of  Moses,  came  to 
her  end,  having  completed  *her  fortieth  year  since  she  left 
Egypt  on  fthe  first  day  of  the  lunar  month  Xanthicus. 
They  then  made  a  public  funeral  for  her,  at  a  great  expense. 
She  was  buried  upon  a  certain  mountain,  which  they  call 
Sin  ;  and  when  they  had  mourned  for  her  thirty  days,  Moses 
purified  the  people  after  this  manner  :  he  brought  an  heifer, 
that  had  never  been  used  to  the  plough,  or  to  husbandry  j 
that  was  complete  in  all  its  parts,  and  entirely  of  a  red  co¬ 
lour,  at  a  little  distance  from  the  camp,  into  a  place  perfectly 
clean.  This  heifer  was  slain  by  the  high-priest,  and  her 
blood  sprinkled  with  his  finger,  seven  times  before  the  taber¬ 
nacle  of  God  ;  after  this,  the  entire  heifer  was  burnt  in  that 
state,  together  with  its  skin  and  entrails,  and  they  threw  ce¬ 
dar-wood,  and  hyssop,  and  scarlet-wool,  into  the  midst  of  the 
fire  ;  then  a  clean  man  gathered  all  her  ashes  together,  and 
laid  them  in  place  perfectly  clean.  AVhen,  therefore,  any 
persons  were  defiled  with  a  dead  body',  they  put  a  little  of 


*  Josephus  here  uses  this  phrase,  when  the  fortieth  year  was  completed. 
for  when  it  was  begun  ;  as  does  St.  Luke,  when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was 
completed.  Acts  ii  1. 

t  Whether  Miriam  died,  as  Josephus’s  Greek  copies  imply,  on  the 
first  day  of  the  month,  maybe  doubted;  because  the  Latin  copies  say, 
it  was  on  the  tenth,  and  so  say  the  Jewish  calenders  also,  as  Dr.  Ber¬ 
nard  assures  us.  It  is  said  her  sepulchre  is  still  extant  near  Petra,  the 
old  capital  city  of  Arabia  Petraea,  at  this  day  ;  as  also  that  of  Aaron, 
not  far  off. 


250 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  IV. 


these  ashes  into  spring  water,  with  hyssop,  and  dipping  part 
of  these  ashes  in  it,  they  sprinkled  them  with  it,  both  on  the 
third  day,  and  on  the  seventh,  and  after  that  they  were  clean. 
This  he  enjoined  them  to  do  also,  when  the  tribes  should  come 
into  their  own  land. 

7.  Now  when  this  purification,  which  their  leader  made 
upon  the  mourning  for  his  sister,  as  it  has  been  now  de¬ 
scribed,  was  over,  he  caused  the  army  to  remove,  and  to 
march  through  the  wilderness,  and  through  Arabia.  And 
when  he  came  to  a  place  which  the  Arabians  esteem  their 
metropolis,  which  was  formerly  called  Arce,  but  has  now  the 
name  of  Petra,  at  this  place,  which  was  encompassed  with 
high  mountains,  Aaron  went  up  one  of  them,  in  the  sight  of 
the  whole  army,  Moses  having  before  told  him  that  he  was 
to  die,  for  this  place  was  over  against  them.  He  put  off  his 
pontifical  garments,  and  delivered  them  to  Eleazer  his  son,  to 
whom  the  high-priesthood  belonged,  because  he  was  the  elder 
brother,  and  died  while  the  multitude  looked  upon  him.  He 
died  in  the  same  year  wherein  he  lost  his  sister,  having  lived 
in  all  an  hundred  and  twenty  and  three  years.  He  died  on 
the  first  day  of  that  lunar  month  which  is  called  by  the  Athe¬ 
nians  Hecatombaeon,  by  the  Macedonians  Lous,  but  by  the 
Hebrews  Abba. 


CHAP.  V. 

How  Moses  conquered  Sihon  and  Og,  kings  of  the  Ammorites, 
and  destroyed  their  whole  army ,  and  then  divided  their 
land  by  lot  to  tico  tribes  and  an  half  of  the  Hebrews. 

§  i.  Thk  people  mourned  for  Aaron  thirty  days  :  and 
when  this  mourning  was  over,  Moses  removed  the  army  from 
that  place,  and  came  to  the  river  Arnon,  which,  issuing  out 
of  the  mountains  of  Arabia,  and  running  through  all  that  wil¬ 
derness,  fell  into  the  lake  Asphaltitis,  and  became  the  limit 
between  the  land  of  the  Moabites,  and  the  land  of  the  Amo- 
rites.  This  land  is  fruitful,  and  sufficient  to  maintain  a  great 
number  of  men  with  the  good  things  it  produces.  Moses, 
therefore,  sent  messengers  to  Sihon,  the  king  of  this  country, 
desiring  that  he  would  grant  his  army  a  passage,  upon  what 
security  he  should  please  to  require  :  he  promised  that  he 
should  be  no  way  injured,  neither  as  to  that  country  which 
Sihon  governed,  nor  as  to  its  inhabitants  ;  and  that  he  would 
buy  his  provisions,  at  such  a  price  as  should  be  to  their  ad¬ 
vantage,  even  though  he  should  desire  to  sell  them  their  very 
water.  Dut  Sihon  refused  his  offer,  and  put  lus  army  into 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  V. 


251 


battle-array,  and  was  preparing  every  thing  in  order  to  hin¬ 
der  their  passing  over  Arnon. 

2.  When  Moses  saw  that  the  Amorite  king  was  disposed 
to  enter  upon  hostilities  with  them,  he  thought  he  ought 
not  to  bear  that  insult ;  and  determining  to  wean  the  He¬ 
brews  from  their  indolent  temper,  and  prevent  the  disorders 
which  arose  thence,  which  had  been  the  occasion  of  their 
former  sedition,  (nor  indeed  were  they  now  thoroughly 
easy  in  their  minds,)  he  inquired  of  God  whether  he  would 
give  him  leave  to  fight  ?  which  when  he  had  done,  and  God 
also  promised  him  the  victory,  he  was  himself  very  courage¬ 
ous,  and  ready  to  proceed  to  fighting.  Accordingly,  he  en¬ 
couraged  the  soldiers  ;  and  he  desired  of  them  that  they 
would  take  the  pleasure  of  fighting,  now  God  gave  them 
leave  so  to  do.  They  then,  upon  the  receipt  of  this  com¬ 
mission,  which  they  so  much  longed  for,  put  on  their  whole 
armour,  and  set  about  the  work  without  delay.  But  the 
Amorite  king  was  not  now  like  to  himself  when  the  He¬ 
brews  were  ready  to  attack  him  ;  but  both  he  himself  was 
affrighted  at  the  Hebrews,  and  his  army,  which  before  had 
showed  themselves  to  be  of  good  courage,  were  then  found 
to  be  timorous  :  so  they  could  not  sustain  the  first  onset,  nor 
bear  up  against  the  Hebrews,  but  fled  away,  as  thinking  this 
would  afford  them  a  more  likely  way  for  their  escape  than 
fighting,  for  they  depended  upon  their  cities,  which  w'ere 
strong,  from  which  they  yet  reaped  no  advantage  when  they 
were  forced  to  lly  to  them  ;  for  as  soon  as  the  Hebrews  saw 
them  giving  ground,  they  immediately  pursued  them  close  ; 
and  when  they  had  broken  their  ranks,  they  greatly  terrified 
them,  and  some  of  them  broke  off  from  the  rest,  and  ran 
away  to  the  cities.  Now  the  Hebrews  pursued  them  brisk¬ 
ly,  and  obstinately  persevered  in  the  labours  they  had  al¬ 
ready  undergone;  and  being  very  skilful  in  slinging,  and  very 
dexterous  in  throwing  of  darts,  or  any  thing  else  of  that  kind, 
and  also  having  nothing  on  but  light  armour,  which  made 
them  quick  in  the  pursuit,  they  overtook  their  enemies  ;  and 
for  those  that  were  most  remote,  and  could  not  be  overtaken, 
they  reached  them  by  their  slings,  and  their  bows,  so  that 
many  were  slain  ;  and  those  that  escaped  the  slaughter  were 
sorely  wounded,  and  these  were  more  distressed  with  thirst 
than  with  any  of  those  that  fought  against  them,  for  it  was  the 
summer  season,  and  when  the  greatest  number  of  them  were 
brought  down  to  the  river,  out  of  a  desire  to  drink  ;  as  also 
when  others  fled  away  by  troops,  the  Hebrews  came  round 
them,  and  shot  at  them,  so  that  what  w  ith  darts,  and  what 
with  arrows,  they  made  a  slaughter  of  them  all.  Sihon  also, 


252  ANTIQUITIES  Book  IV- 

their  king,  was  slain.  So  the  Hebrews  spoiled  their  dead  bo¬ 
dies,  and  took  their  prey.  The  land  also  which  they  took  was 
full  of  abundance  of  fruits,  and  the  army  went  all  over  it, 
without  fear,  and  fed  their  cattle  upon  it,  and  they  took  the 
enemies  prisoners,  for  they  could  no  way  put  a  stop  to  them, 
since  all  the  fighting  men  were  destroyed.  Such  was  the  de¬ 
struction  which  overtook  the  Amorites,  who  were  neither 
sagacious  in  counsel,  nor  courageous  in  action.  Hereupon 
the  Hebrews  took  possession  of  their  land,  which  is  a  coun¬ 
try  situate  between  three  rivers,  and  naturally  resembling  an 
island,  the  river  Arnon  being  its  southern  limit  ;  the  river 
Jabbok  determining  its  nothern  side,  which  running  into  Jor¬ 
dan  loses  its  own  name,  and  takes  the  other,  while  Jordan  it¬ 
self  runs  along  by  it  on  its  western  coast. 

3.  When  matters  were  come  to  this  state,  Og,  the  king  of 
Gilead  and  Gaulanitis,  fell  upon  the  Israelites.  He  brought 
an  army  with  him,  and  came  in  haste  to  the  assistance  of  his 
friend  Sihon.  But  though  he  found  him  already  slain,  yet 
did  he  resolve  still  to  come  and  fight  the  Hebrews,  supposing 
he  should  be  too  hard  for  them,  and  being  desirous  to  try  their 
valour  :  but  failing  of  his  hope,  he  was  both  himself  slain  in 
the  battle,  and  all  his  army  was  destroyed.  So  Moses  passed 
over  the  river  Jabbok,  and  overran  the  kingdom  of  Og. 
He  overthrew  their  cities,  and  slew  all  their  inhabitants,  who 
yet  exceeded  in  riches  all  the  men  in  that  part  of  the  conti¬ 
nent,  on  account  of  the  goodness  of  the  soil,  and  the  great 
quantity  of  his  wealth.  Now  Og  had  very  few  equals,  either 
in  the  largeness  of  his  body,  or  handsomeness  of  his  appear¬ 
ance.  He  was  also  a  man  of  great  activity,  in  the  use  of  his 
hands,  so  that  his  actions  were  not  unequal  to  the  vast  large¬ 
ness,  and  handsome  appearance  of  his  body.  And  men  could 
eaisily  guess  at  his  strength  and  magnitude,  when  they  took 
his  bed  atRabboth,  the  royal  city  of  the  Ammonites;  its  struc¬ 
ture  was  of  iron,  its  breadth  four  cubits,  and  its  length  a  cu¬ 
bit  more  than  double  thereto.  However,  his  fall  did  not  only 
improve  the  circumstances  of  the  Hebrews  for  the  present, 
but  by  his  death  he  was  the  occasion  of  farther  good  suc¬ 
cess  to  them  ;  for  they  presently  took  those  sixty  cities  which 
were  encompassed  with  excellent  walls,  and  had  been  subject 
to  him,  and  all  got  both  in  general  and  in  particular  a  great 
prey. 


Chap.  VI. 


253 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


CHAP.  VI. 

Concerning  Balaam  the  prophet ,  and  what  kind  of  a  man 

he  teas. 

^  1.  Now  Moses,  when  he  had  brought  his  army  to  Jor- 
dan,  pitched  his  camp  in  the  great  plain  over  against  Jericho. 
This  city  is  a  very  happy  situation,  and  very  fit  for  producing 
palm-trees  and  balsam.  And  now  the  Israelites  began  to  be 
very  proud  of  themselves,  and  were  very  eager  for  .fighting. 
Moses  then,  after  he  had  offered,  for  a  few  days,  sacrifices  of 
thanksgiving  to  God,  and  feasted  the  people,  sent  a  party  of 
armed  men  to  lay  waste  the  country  of  the  Midianites,  and  to 
take  their  cities.  Now  the  occasion  which  he  took  for  mak¬ 
ing  war  upon  them,  was  this  that  follows. 

2.  When  Balak,  the  king  of  the  Moabites,  who  had  from 
his  ancestors  a  friendship  and  league  with  the  Midianites,  saw 
how  greatly  the  Israelites  were  grown,  he  was  much  aftright- 
ed  on  account  of  his  own  and  his  kingdom’s  danger  ;  for  he 
was  not*  acquainted  with  this,  that  the  Hebrews  would  not 
meddle  with  any  other  country,  but  were  to  be  contented 
with  the  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  God  having  forbid 
them  to  go  any  farther.  So  he,  with  more  haste  than  wisdom, 
resolved  to  make  an  attempt  upon  them  by  words;  but  he 
did  not  judge  it  prudent  to  fight  against  them,  after  they  had 
had  such  prosperous  success,  and  even  became  out  of  ill  suc¬ 
cess  more  happy  than  before,  but  he  thought  to  hinder  them, 
if  he  could,  from  growing  greater,  and  so  he  resolved  to  send 
ambassadors  to  the  Midianites  about  them.  Nosv  these  Mi¬ 
dianites  knowing  there  was  one  Balaam,  who  lived  by  Eu¬ 
phrates,  and  was  the  greatest  of  the  prophets  at  that  time, 
and  one  that  was  in  friendship  with  them,  sent  some  of  their 
honourable  princes  along  with  the  ambassadors  of  Balak,  to 
entreat  the  prophet  to  come  to  them  that  he  might  imprecate 
curses  to  the  destruction  of  the  Israelites.  So  Balaam  re¬ 
ceived  the  ambassadors,  and  treated  them  very  kindly;  and 
when  he  had  supped,  he  inquired  what  was  God’s  will,  and 


*  What  Josephus  here  remarks,  is  well  worth  our  remark  in  this  place 
also,  viz.  that  the  Israelites  were  never  to  meddle  with  the  Moabites, 
or  Ammonites,  or  any  other  people,  but  those  belonging  to  the  land  of 
Canaan,  and  the  country  of  Sihon  and  Og  beyond  Jordan,  as  far  as  the 
desert  and  Euphrates,  and  that,  therefore,  no  other  people  had  reason 
to  fear  the  conquests  of  the  Israelites :  but  that  those  countries,  given 
them  by  God,  were  their  proper  and  peculiar  portion  among  the  na¬ 
tions,  and  that  all  who  endeavoured  to  dispossess  them  might  ever  b* 
Justly  destroyed  by  them. 

VOL.  N  Y 


254  ANTIQUITIES  Book  IK 

what  this  matter  was,  for  which  the  Midianites  entreated  him 
to  come  to  them  ?  But  when  God  opposed  his  going,  he  came 
to  the  ambassadors,  and  told  them,  that  he  was  himself  very 
willing  and  desirous  to  comply  with  their  iequest,  but  inform¬ 
ed  them,  that  God  was  opposite  to  his  intentions,  even  that 
God  who  had  raised  him  to  great  reputation  on  account  ol 
the  truth  of  his  predictions,  for  that  this  army,  which  they 
entreated  him  to  come  to  curse,  was  in  the  favour  of  God, 
on  which  account  he  advised  them  to  go  home  again,  and 
not  to  persist  in  their  enmity  against  the  Israelites ;  and 
when  he  had  given  them  that  answer,  he  dismissed  the  am¬ 
bassadors. 

3.  Now  the  Midianites,  at  the  earnest  instances,  and  fer¬ 
vent  entreaties  of  Balak  sent  other  ambassadors  to  Balaam, 
w'ho,  desiring  to  gratify  the  men,  inquired  again  of  God  ;  but 
he  was  displeased  at  this*  [second]  trial,  and  bid  him  by  no 
means  contradict  the  ambassadors.  Now  Balaam  did  not 
imagine  that  God  gave  this  injunction  in  order  to  deceive 
him,  so  he  went  along  with  the  ambassadors  :  but  when  the 
divine  angel  met  him  in  the  way,  when  he  was  in  a  narrow 
passage,  and  hedged  in  with  a  wall  on  both  sides,  the  ass  on 
which- Balaam  rode,  understood  that  it  w  as  a  divine  spirit  that 
met  him,  and  thrust  Balaam  to  one  of  the  walls,  without  re¬ 
gard  to  the  stripes  which  Balaam,  when  he  was  hurt  by  the 
wall,  gave  her  :  but  when  the  ass,  upon  the  angel’s  continu¬ 
ance  to  distress  her,  and  upon  the  stripes  which  were  given 
her,  fell  down,  by  the  will  of  God,  she  made  use  of  the  voice 
of  a  man,  and  complained  of  Balaam,  as  acting  unjustly  to 

*  Note,  that  Josephus  never  supposes  Balaam  to  he  an  Idolater,  nor 
to  seek  idolatrous  enchantment,  or  to  prophesy  falsely,  hut  to  be  no 
other  than  an  ill-disposed  prophet  of  the  true  God;  and  intimates, 
that  God's  answer  the  second  time,  permitting  him  to  go,  was  ironical, 
and  on  design  that  he  should  he  deceived,  (which  sort  of  deception,  by 
way  of  punishment  for  former  crimes,  Josephus  never  scruples  to  ad¬ 
mit,  as  ever  esteeming  such  wicked  men  justly  and  providentially  de¬ 
ceived  )  But  perhaps  we  had  better  keep  here  close  to  the  text ;  which 
says,  Numb,  xxiii.  20,  21,  that  God  only  permitted  Balaam  to  go  along 
with  the  ambassadors,  in  case  they  came  and  called  him,  or  positively 
insisted  on  his  going  along  with  them,  on  any  terms :  whereas  Balaam 
seems,  out  of  impatience,  to  have  risen  up  in  the  morning  and  saddled 
his  ass,  and  rather  to  have  called  them,  that  stayed  for  their  calling  him  ; 
so  zealous  does  he  seem  to  have  been  for  bis  reward  of  divination,  bis 
wages  of  unrigeteousness.  Numb.  xxii.  7,  IT,  18, 37.  2 1’et.  ii.  15.  Jude  v. 
11,  which  reward  or  wages  the  truly  religious  prophets  of  God  never 
required,  nor  accepted,  as  our  Josephus  justly  takes  notice  iu  the  cases 
of  Samuel,  Anliq.  B.  v.  ch.  iv.  §  1.  vol.  ii.  and  Daniel,  Antiq.  B.  x.  ch. 
xi  §  3.  See  also  Gen.  xiv.  22,  23.  2  Kings  v,  15,  16, 26,  £7,  and  Acts 
viii.  18—24. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


253 


Chap.  VI. 

her;  that  whereas  he  had  no  fault  to  find  with  her  in  her 
former  service  to  him,  he  now  inflicted  stripes  upon  her,  as 
not  understanding  that  she  was  hindered  from  serving  him  in 
what  he  was  now  going  about,  by  the  providence  of  God. 
And  when  he  was  disturbed  by  reason  of  the  voice  of  the 
ass,  which  was  that  of  a  man,  the  angel  plainly  appeared  to 
him,  and  blamed  him  for  the  stripes  he  had  given  his  ass; 
and  informed  him  that  the  brute  creature  was  not  in  fault, 
but  that  he  was  himself  come  to  obstruct  his  journey,  as  be¬ 
ing  contrary  to  the  will  of  God.  Upon  wjiich  Balaam  was 
afraid,  and  was  preparing  to  return  back  again,  yet  did  God 
excite  him  to  go  on  his  intended  way;  but  added  this  injunc¬ 
tion,  that  he  should  declare  nothing  but  what  he  himself 
should  suggest  to  his  mind 

4.  When  God  had  given  him  this  charge,  he  came  to  Ba- 
lak  ;  and  when  the  king  had  entertained  him  in  a  magnificent 
manner,  he  desired  him  to  go  to  one  of  the  mountains  to  take 
a  view  of  the  state  of  the  camp  of  the  Hebrews.  Balak 
himself  also  came  to  the  mountain,  and  brought  the  prophet 
along  with  him  with  a  royal  attendance.  This  mountain  lay 
over  their  heads,  and  was  distant  sixty  furlongs  from  their 
camp.  Now7  when  he  saw  them,  he  desired  the  king  to 
build  him  seven  altars,  and  to  bring  him  as  many  bulls  and 
rams  ;  to  which  desire  the  king  did  presently  conform.  He 
then  slew  the  sacrifices,  and  offered  them  as  burnt-offerings, 
that  he  might  observe  some  signal  of  the  flight  of  the  He» 
brews.  Then  said  he,  “  .  ;appy  is  this  people  on  whoip  God 
bestows  the  possession  of  innumerable  good  things,  and 
grants  them  his  own  providence  to  be  their  assistant  and  theiw 
guide !  so  that  there  is  not  any  nation  among  mankind  but 
you  w'ill  be  esteemed  superior  to  them  in  virtue,  and  in  the 
earnest  prosecution  of  the  best  rules  of  life,  and  of  such  as 
are  pure  from  wickedness ;  and  will  leave  those  rules  to  your 
excellent  children,  and  this  out  of  the  regard  that  God  bears 
to  you,  and  the  provision  of  such  things  for  you  as  may  ren¬ 
der  you  happier  than  any  other  people  under  the  sun.  You 
shall  retain  that  land  to  which  he  hath  sent  you,  and  it  shall 
ever  be  under  the  command  of  your  children  ;  and  both  all 
the  earth,  as  well  as  the  sea,  shall  be  filled  with  your  glory; 
and  you  shall  be  sufficiently  numerous  to  supply  the  world 
in  general,  and  ever}7  region  of  it  in  particular,  with  inhabi¬ 
tants  out  of  your  stock.  However,  O  blessed  army!  won¬ 
der  that  you  are  become  so  many  from  one  father :  and  truly, 
the  land  of  Canaan  can  now  hold  you,  as  being  yet  compara¬ 
tively  few;  but  know  ye  that  the  whole  world  is  proposed  to 
be  your  place  of  habitation  for  ever,  The  multitude  of  your 


roG 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  IV. 


posterity  also  shall  live  as  well  in  the  islands,  as  on  the  con¬ 
tinent,  and  that  more  in  number  than  are  the  stars  of  heaven. 
And  when  you  are  become  so  many,  God  will  not  relinquish 
the  care  of  you,  but  will  afford  you  an  abundance  of  all  good 
things  in  time  of  peace,  with  victory  and  dominion  in  time  of 
war.  May  the  children  of  your  enemies  have  an  inclination 
to  fight  against  you  ;  and  ma}  they  be  so  hardy  as  to  come  to 
arms,  and  to  assault  you  in  battle,  for  they  will  not  return 
with  victory ;  nor  will  their  return  be  agreeable  to  their 
children  and  wives.  To  so  great  a  degree  of  valour  will 
you  be  raised  by  the  providence  of  God,  who  is  able  to  di¬ 
minish  the  affluence  of  some,  and  to  supply  the  wants  of 
others.” 

5.  Thus  did  Balaam  speak  by  inspiration,  as  not  being  in 
his  own  power,  but  moved  to  say  what  he  did  by  the  divine 
spirit.  But  when  Balak  was  displeased,  and  said  he  had 
broken  the  contract  he  bad  made,  whereby  he  was  to  come, 
as  he  and  his  confederates  had  invited  him,  by  the  promise  of 
great  presents  ;  for  whereas  he  came  to  curse  their  enemies, 
he  had  made  an  encomium  upon  them,  and  had  declared  that 
they  were  the  happiest  of  men.  To  which  Balaam  replied  : 
<£  O  Balak,  if  thou  rightly  considerest  this  whole  matter, 
canst  thou  suppose  that  it  is  in  our  power  to  be  silent,  or  to 
say  any  thing  when  the  spirit  of  God  seizes  upon  us  ?  for  he 
puts  such  words  as  he  pleases  in  our  mouths,  and  such  dis- 


I  well  reiitem* 


wc  «re  iwt  oitt'seives  conscimtS  <>f. 
ber  by  what  entreaties  both  you  and  the  Midianites  so  joyful¬ 
ly  brought  me  hither,  and  on  that  account  I  took  this  jour¬ 
ney.  It  was  my  prayer,  that  I  might  not  put  an  affront  upon 
you  as  to  what  you  desired  of  me;  but  God  is  more  pow¬ 
erful  than  the  purposes  I  had  made  to  serve  you,  for  those 
that  take  upon  them  to  foretell  the  affairs  of  mankind,  as 
from  their  own  abilities  are  entirely  unable  to  do  it,  or  to 
forbear  to  utter  what  God  suggests  to  them,  or  to.  offer  vio¬ 
lence  to  his  will :  for  when  he  prevents  us,  and  enters  into 
us,  nothing  that  we  say  is  our  own.  I  then  did  not  intend  to 
praise  this  army,  nor  to  go  over  the  several  good  things 
which  God  intended  to  do  to  their  race,  but  since  he  was  so 
favourable  to  them,  and  so  ready  to  bestow  upon  them  an 
happy  life,  and  eternal  glory,  he  suggested  the  declaration 
of  those  things  to  me.  But  now,  because  it  is  my  desire  to 
oblige  thee  thyself,  as  well  as  the  Midianites,  whose  entrea¬ 
ties  it  is  not  decent  for  me  to  reject,  go  to,  let  us  again  rear 
other  altars,  and  offer  the  like  sacrifices  that  we  did  before, 
that  f  may  see  whether  I  can  persuade  God  to  permit  me  to 
bind  these  men  with  curses.”  Which,  when  Balak  ha«.t 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


257 


C hap.  VI. 

agreed  to,  God  would  not  even  upon  ^second  sacrifices,  con¬ 
sent  to  his  cursing  the  Israelites.  Then  fell  Balaam  upon 
his  face,  and  foretold  what  calamities  would  befall  the  several 
kings  of  the  nations,  and  the  most  eminent  cities,  some  of 
which  of  old  were  not  so  much  as  inhabited;  which  events 
have  come  to  pass  among  the  several  people  concerned,  both 
in  the  foregoing  ages,  and  in  this,  till  my  own  memory,  both 
by  sea  and  by  land.  From  which  completion  of  all  these 
predictions  that  he  made,  one  may  easily  guess  that  the  rest 
will  have  their  completion  in  time  to  come. 

6.  But  Balak,  being  very  angry  that  the  Israelites  were  not 
cursed,  sent  away  Balaam  without  thinking  him  worthy  of  any 
honour.  Whereupon,  when  he  was  just  upon  his  journey,  in 
order  to  pass  the  Euphrates,  he  sent  for  Balak,  and  for  the 
princes  of  the  Midianites,  and  spake  thus  to  them  :  “O  Ba¬ 
lak,  and  you  Midianites  that  are  here  present,  for  I  am  oblig¬ 
ed,  even  without  the  will  of  God,  to  gratify  you,)  it  is  true 
no  entire  destruction  can  seize  upon  the  nation  of  the  He¬ 
brews,  neither  by  war,  nor  by  plague,  nor  by  scarcity  of  the 
fruits  of  the  earth,  nor  can  any  other  unexpected  accident 
be  their  entire  ruin  ;  for  the  providence  of  God  is  concern¬ 
ed  to  preserve  them  from  such  a  misfortune,  nor  will  it  per¬ 
mit  any  such  calamity  to  come  upon  them  whereby  they  may 
all  perish  ;  but  some  small  misfortunes,  and  those  for  a  short 
time  whereby  they  may  appear  to  be  brought  low,  may  still 
befall  them  ;  but  after  that  they  will  flourish  again,  to  the  ter¬ 
ror  of  those  that  brought  those  mischiefs  upon  them.  So 
that  if  you  have  a  mind  to  gain  a  victory  over  them  for  a  short 
space  of  time,  you  will  obtain  it  by  following  my  directions  : 
do  you,  therefore,  set  out  the  handsomest  of  such  of  your 
daughters  as  are  most  eminent  for  beauty,  and  proper  to  force 
and  conquer  the  modesty  of  those  that  behold  them,  and 
these  decked  and  trimmed  to  the  highest  degree  you  are  able  : 
then  do  you  send  them  to  be  near  the  Israelites’  camp  ;  and 
give  them  in  charge,  that  when  the  young  men  of  the  He¬ 
brews  desire  their  company,  they  allow  it  them  ;  and  when 
they  see  that  they  are  enamoured  of  them,  let  them  take 
their  leaves,  and  if  they  entreat  them  to  stay,  let  them  not 
give  their  consent  till  they  have  persuaded  them  to  leave  oft’ 
their  obedience  to  their  own  laws,  and  the  worship  of  that. 

*  Whether  Josephus  had  in  his  copy  but  two  attempts  of  Balaam  in. 
al\  to  curse  Israel,  or  whether  by  this  his  twice  offering  sacrifice,  be 
meant  twice  beside  that  first  time  already  mentioned,  which  yet  is  not 
very  probable,  cannot  now  be  certainly  determined.  In  the  mean  time 
all  other  copies  have  three  such  attempts  of  Balaam  to  curse  them  in 
the  present  history. 

Y  2 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  IV. 


God  who  established  them,  and  to  worship  the  gods  of  the  Mi¬ 
dianites  and  Moabites,  for  by  this  means  God  will  be  angry* 
at  them.”  Accordingly,  when  Balaam  had  suggested  this 
counsel  to  them,  he  went  his  way. 

7.  So  when  the  Midianites  had  sent  their  daughters,  as  Ba¬ 
laam  had  exhorted  them,  the  Hebrew  young  men  were  allur¬ 
ed  by  their  beauty,  and  came  to  discourse  with  them,  and  be¬ 
sought  them  not  to  grudge  them  the  enjoyment  of  their  beau¬ 
ty,  nor  to  deny  them  their  conversation.  These  daughters 
of  the  Midianites  received  their  words  gladly,  and  consented 
to  it,  and  staid  with  them ;  but  when  they  had  brought  them 
to  be  enamoured  of  them,  and  their  inclinations  to  them  were 
grown  to  ripeness,  they  began  to  think  of  departing  from 
them,  then  it  was  that  these  men  became  greatly  disconsolate 
at  the  women’s  departure,  and  they  were  urgent  with  them 
not  to  leave  them,  but  begged  they  would  continue  there,  and 
become  their  wives;  and  they  promised  them,  they  should 
be  owned  as  mistresses  of  all  they  had.  This  they  said  with 
an  oath  and  called  God  for  the  arbitrator  of  what  they  pro¬ 
mised  ;  and  this  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  and  all  other  such 
marks  of  concern  as  might  show'  how  miserable  they  thought 
themselves  without  them,  and  so  might  move  their  compas¬ 
sion  for  +hem.  So  the  women,  as  soon  as  they  perceived 
they  had  made  them  their  slaves,  and  had  caught  them  with 
their  conversation,  began  to  speak  thus  to  them. 

8.  “  O  you  illustrious  young  men  !  we  have  houses  of  our 
own  at  home,  and  great  plenty  of  good  things  there,  together 
with  the  natural  affectionate  love  of  our  parents  and  friends  ; 
nor  is  it  out  of  our  want  of  any  such  things  that  we  come  to 
discourse  with  you,  nor  did  we  admit  of  your  invitation  with 
design  to  prostitute  the  beauty  of  our  body  for  gain,  but  tak¬ 
ing  you  for  brave  and  worthy  men,  we  agreed  to  your  re¬ 
quest,  that  we  might  treat  j'ou  with  such  honours  as  hospitali¬ 
ty  required :  and  now  seeing  you  say  that  you  have  a  great 
affection  for  us,  and  are  troubled  when  you  think  we  are  de¬ 
parting,  we  are  not  averse  to  your  entreaties  ;  and  if  we  may 
receive  such  assurance  of  your  good-will  as  we  think  can  be 
alone  sufficient,  we  will  be  glad  to  lead  our  lives  with  you  as 
your  wives,  but  we  are  afraid  that  you  will  in  time  be  we.ary 
of  our  company,  and  will  then  abuse  us,  and  send  us  back  to 
our  parents,  after  an  ignominious  manner;”  and  they  desired 


*  This  grand  maxim,  that  God's  people  of  Israel  should  never  be  hurt, 
nor  destroyed,  but  by  drawing  them  to  sin  against  God ,  appears  to  be  true 
by  the  entire  history  of  that  people,  both  in  the  Bible,  anil  in  Josephus, 
and  is  often  taken  notice  of  in  them  both.  See  in  particular  a  most  re 
markable  Ammonite  testimony  to  this  purpose,  Judith  v.  5 — 21. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


259 


Chap.  VI. 

that  they  would  excuse  them  from  guarding  against  tha*  dan¬ 
ger.  But  the  young  men  professed  they  would  give  them  any 
assurance  they  should  desire  ;  nor  did  they  at  all  contradict 
what  they  requested,  so  great  was  the  passion  they  had  for 
them.  “If  then,”  said  they,  “  this  be  your  resolution,  since 
you  make  use  of  such  ^customs  and  conduct  of  life  as  are  en¬ 
tirely  different  from  all  other  men,  insomuch  that  your  kinds 
ol  tood  are  peculiar  to  yourselves,  and  your  kinds  of  drink  are 
not  common  to  others,  it  will  be  absolutely  necessary,  if  you 
would  have  us  for  your  wives,  that  you  do  withal  wor¬ 
ship  our  gods :  nor  can  there  be  any  other  demonstration  of 
the  kindness  which  you  say  you  already  have,  and  promise 
to  have  hereafter  to  us,  than  this,  that  you  worship  the  same 
gods  that  we  do  ;  for  has  any  one  reason  to  complain,  that 
now  you  are  come  into  this  country,  you  should  worship  the 
proper  gods  of  the  same  country  ;  especially  while  our  gods 
are  common  to  all  men,  and  yours  such  as  belong  to  nobody 
else  but  yourselves  ?”  So  they  said  they  must  either  come 
into  such  methods  of  divine  worship  as  all  others  came  into, 
or  else  lheyr  must  look  out  for  another  world,  wherein  they 
may  live  by  themselves,  according  to  their  own  laws. 

9-  Now  the  young  men  were  induced  by  the  fondness  they 
had  for  these  women,  to  think  they  spake  very  well,  so  they 
gave  themselves  up  to  what  they  persuaded  them,  and  trans¬ 
gressed  their  own  laws  ;  and  supposing  there  were  many  gods, 
and  resolving  that  they  would  sacrifice  to  them  according  to 
the  laws  of  that  country  which  ordained  them,  they  both  were 
delighted  with  their  strange  food,  and  went  on  to  do  every 
thing  that  the  women  would  have  them  do,  though  in  contra¬ 
diction  to  their  own  laws  ;  so  far,  indeed,  that  this  transgres¬ 
sion  was  already  gone  through  the  whole  army  of  the  young 
men,  and  they  fell  into  a  sedition  that  was  much  worse  than 
the  former,  and  into  danger  of  the  entire  abolition  of  their  own 
i nstitiutions ;  for  when  once  the  youth  had  tasted  of  these 
strange  customs,  they  went  with  insatiable  inclinations  into 
them  ;  and  even  where  some  of  the  principal  men  were  illus- 

*  What  Josephus  here  puts  into  the  mouths  of  these  Midianite  wo¬ 
men,  who  came  to  entice  the  Israelites  to  lewd  ness  and  idolatry,  viz.  that 
their  worship  of  the  God  of  Israel,  in  opposition  to  their  idol  gods,  im¬ 
plied  their  living  according  to  the  holy  laws  which  the  true  God  had 
given  (hem  by  Moses,  in  opposition  to  those  impure  laws  which  were 
observed  under  their  false  gods,  well  deserves  our  consideration  ;  and 
gives  us  a  substantial  reason  for  the  great  concern  that  was  ever  showed 
under  the  law  of  Moses,  to  preserve  the  Israelites  from  idolatry  and  in 
the  worship  of  the  true  God,  it  being  of  no  less  consequence  then,  whe¬ 
ther  God’s  people  should  be  governed  by  the  holy  laws  of  the  true  God, 
or  by  the  impure  laws,  derived  from  demons,  under  the  Pagan  idolatry  ,' 


2 CO  ANTIQUITIES  Book  IV, 

trious  on  account  of  the  virtues  of  their  fathers,  they  also  were 
corrupted  together  with  the  rest. 

10.  Even  Zimri,  the  head  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  accom¬ 
panied  with  Cozbi,  a  Midianitish  woman,  who  was  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Sur,  a  man  of  authority  in  that  country  ;  and  being 
desired  by  his  wife  to  disregard  the  law  of  Moses,  and  to  fol¬ 
low  those  she  was  used  to,  he  complied  with  her,  and  this  both 
by  sacrificing  after  a  manner  different  from  his  own,  and  by 
taking  a  stranger  to  wife.  When  things  were  thus,  Moses 
was  afraid  that  matters  should  grow  worse,  and  called  the  peo¬ 
ple  to  a  congregation,  but  then  accused  nobody  by  name, 
as  unwilling  to  drive  those  into  despair  who,  by  lying  con¬ 
cealed,  might  come  to  repentance  ;  but  he  said,  “  that  they 
did  not  do  what  was  either  worthy  of  themselves  or  of  their  fa¬ 
thers,  by  preferring  pleasure  to  God,  and  to  the  living  accor¬ 
ding  to  his  will  :  that  it  was  fit  they  should  change  their 
courses,  while  their  affairs  were  still  in  a  good  state  ;  and 
think  that  to  be  true  fortitude  which  offers  not  violence  to  their 
laws,  but  that  which  resists  their  lusts.  And  besides  that,  he 
said,  it  was  not  a  reasonable  thing,  when  they  had  lived  sober¬ 
ly  in  the  wilderness,  to  act  madl}',  now  they  were  in  prospe¬ 
rity  ;  and  that  they  ought  not  to  lose,  now  they  have  abun¬ 
dance,  what  they  had  gained  when  they  had  little.”  And  so 
did  he  endeavour,  by  saying  this,  to  correct  the  young  men, 
to  bring  them  to  repentance  for  what  they  had  done. 

1 1.  But  Zimri  arose  up  after  him,  and  said,  “  Yes,  indeed 
Moses,  thou  art  at  liberty  to  make  use  of  such  laws  as  thou 
art  fond  of,  and  hast  by  accustoming  thyself  to  them,  made 
them  firm  ;  otherwise,  if  things  had  not  been  thus,  thou  hadst 
often  been  punished  before  now,  and  hadst  known  that  the 
Hebrews  are  not  easily  put  upon:  but  thoushalt  not  have  me 
as  one  of  thy  followers  in  thy  tyrannical  commands,  for  thou 
dost  nothing  else  hitherto,  but  under  pretence  of  laws,  and  of 
God,  wickedly  impose  on  us  slavery,  and  gain  dominion  to 
thyself,  while  thou  deprivest  us  of  the  sweetness  of  life,  which 
consists  in  acting  according  to  our  own  wills,  and  is  the  right 
of  free  men,  and  of  those  that  have  no  lord  over  them.  Nay, 
indeed,  this  man  is  harder  upon  the  Hebrews  than  were  the 
Egyptians  themselves,  as  pretending  to  punish  according  to 
his  laws  every  one’s  acting  what  is  most  agreeable  to  him¬ 
self  ;  but  thyself  better  deservest  to  suffer  punishment,  who 
ussumest  to  abolish  what  every  one  acknowledges  to  be  what 
is  good  for  him,  and  aimest  to  make  thy  single  opinion  to  have 
more  foice  than  that  of  all  the  rest ;  and  what  I  now  do,  and 
think  to  be  right,  I  shall  not  hereafter  deny  to  be  according 
to  my  own  sentiments.  I  have  married,  as  thou  sayest  right- 


Chap' VI.  OF  THE  JEWS.  261 

ly,  a  strange  woman,  and  thou  hcarest  what  I  do  from  myself 
as  from  one  that  is  free,  for  truly  I  did  not  intend  to  conceal 
myself.  I  also  own,  that  I  sacrifice  to  those  gods  to  whom 
you  do  not  think  fit  to  sacrifice  ;  and  l  think  it  right  to  come 
at  truth  by  inquiring  of  many  people,  and  not  like  one  that 
lives  under  tyranny,  to  suffer  the  whole  hope  of  my  life  to 
depend  upon  one  man  :  nor  shall  any  one  find  cause  to  re¬ 
joice,  who  declares  himself  to  have  more  authority  over  my 
actions  than  myself.” 

12.  Now  when  Zimri  had  said  these  things,  about  what  he 
and  some  others  had  wickedly  done,  the  people  held  their 
peace,  both  out  of  fear  of  what  might  come  upon  them,  and 
because  they  saw  their  legislator  was  not  willing  to  bring  his 
insolence  before  the  public  any  farther,  or  openly  to  contend 
with  him,  for  he  avoided  that,  lest  many  should  imitate  the 
impudence  of  his  language,  and  hereby  disturb  the  multitude  : 
upon  this  the  assembly  was  dissolved.  However,  the  mis¬ 
chievous  attempt  had  proceeded  farther,  if  Zimri  had  not  been 
first  slain,  which  came  to  pass  on  the  following  occasion  : 
Phineas,  a  man  in  other  respects  better  than  the  rest  of  the 
young  men,  and  also  one  that  surpassed  his  contemporaries  in 
the  dignity  of  his  father,  (for  he  was  the  son  of  Eleazer  the 
high-priest,  and  the  grand-son  of  [Aaron]  Moses’s  brother,) 
who  was  greatly  troubled  at  what  was  done  by  Zimri,  resolv- 
ed  in  earnest  to  inflict  punishment  on  him,  before  his  unwor¬ 
thy  behaviour  should  grow  stronger  by  impunity,  and  in  or¬ 
der  to  prevent  this  transg  ession  from  proceeding  farther, 
which  would  happen  if  the  ringleaders  were  not  punished. 
He  was  of  so  great  magnanimity,  both  in  strength  of  mind  and 
body,  that  when  he  undertook  any  very  dangerous  attempt, 
he  did  not  leave  it  oflf  till  he  overcame  it,  and  got  an  entire 
victory  ;  so  he  came  into  Zimri’s  tent,  and  slew  him  with  his 
javelin,  and  with  it  he  slew  Cozbi  also.  Upon  which  all 
those  young  men  that  had  a  regard  to  virtue,  and  aimed  to  do 
a  glorious  action,  imitated  Phineas’s  boldness,  and  slew  those 
that  were  found  to  be  guilty  of  the  same  crime  with  Zimri. 
Accordingly,  many  of  those  that  had  transgressed,  perished 
by  the  magnanimous  valour  of  those  young  men  ;  the  rest  all 
perished  by  a  plague,  which  distemper  God  himself  inflicted 
upon  them  ;  so  that  all  those  their  kindred,  who,  instead  of 
hindering  them  from  such  wicked  actions,  as  they  ought  to 
have  done,  and  persuaded  them  to  go  on,  were  esteemed  by 
God  as  partners  in  their  wickedness,  and  died.  Accordingly, 
there  perished  out  of  the  army  no  fewer  than  ^fourteen  [twen¬ 
ty-four]  thousand  at  that  time. _  ~ _ _ 

*  The  mistake  in  all  Josephus’s  copies,  Greek  and  Latin,  which  have 


262 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  IV. 


13.  This  was  the  cause  why  Moses  was  prov^ed  to  send 
an  army  to  destroy  the  Midianites  ;  concerning  which  expe¬ 
dition  we  shall  speak  presently,  when  we  have  first  related 
what  we  have  omitted  ;  for  it  is  but  just  not  to  pass  over  our 
legislator’s  due  encomium,  on  account  of  his  conduct  here, 
because,  although  this  Balaam,  who  was  sent  for  by  the  Mid¬ 
ianites  to  curse  the  Hebrews,  and  when  he  was  hindered 
from  doing  it  by  divine  providence,  did  still  suggest  that  ad¬ 
vice  to  them,  by  making  use  of  which,  our  enemies  had  well 
nigh  Corrupted  the  whole  multitude  of  the  Hebrew's  with 
their  wile's,  till  some  of  them  were  deeply  infected  with  their 
opinions,  yet  did  he  do  him  great  honour,  by  setting  down  his 
prophecies  in  writing.  .And  while  it  was  in  his  power  to 
claim  this  glory  to  himself,  and  make  men  believe  they  wrere 
his  own  predictions,  there  being  no  one  that  could  be  a  witness 
against  him,  and  accuse  him  for  so  doing,  he  still  gave  his  at¬ 
testation  to  him,  and  did  him  the  honour  to  make  mention  of 
him  on  this  account.  But  let  every  one  think  of  these  matters 
as  he  pleases. 


CHAP.  VII. 

How  the  Hebrews  fought  vrith  the  Midianites ,  and  overcame 

them. 

§  1.  Now  Moses  sent  an  army  against  the  land  of  Midian, 
for  the  causes  forementioned,  in  all  twelve  thousand,  taking 
an  equal  number  out  of  every  tribe,  and  appointed  Phineas 
for  their  commander  ;  of  which  Phineas  we  made  mention  a 
little  before,  as  he  that  had  guarded  the  laws  of  the  Hebrews, 
and  had  inflicted  punishment  upon  Zimri  when  he  had  trans¬ 
gressed  them.  Now  the  Midianites  perceived  beforehand 
how  the  Hebrews  were  coming,  and  would  suddenly  be  upon 
them,  they  assembled  their  army  together,  and  fortified  the 
entrances  into  their  country,  and  there  awaited  the  enemies’ 
coming.  When  they  were  come,  and  they  had  joined  battle 
with  them,  an  immense  multitude  of  the  Midianites  fell  ;  nor 
could  they  be  numbered  they  were  so  very  many  :  and  among 
them  fell  all  their  kings,  five  in  number,  viz.  Evi,  Zur,  Reba, 
Mur,  and  Rekem,  who  was  of  the  same  name  with  a  city, 
the  chief  and  capitol  of  all  Arabia,  which  is  till  now  so  called 
by  the  whole  Arabian  nation,  Areccm ,  from  the  name  of  the 
king  that  built  it,  but  is  by  the  Greeks  called  Petra.  Now 

here  14,000  instead  of  24,000,  is  so  flagrant,  that  our  very  learned  edi¬ 
tors,  Bernard  and  Hudson,  have  put  the  latter  number  directly  into  the 
t£*t.  I  choose  rather  to  put  it  in  brackets. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  VII. 


263 


when  the  enemies  were  discomfited,  the  Hebrews  spoiled  their 
country,  and  took  a  great  prey,  and  destroyed  the  men  that 
were  its  inhabitants,  together  with  the  women  ;  only  they  let 
virgins  alone,  as  Moses  had  commanded  Phineas  to  do,  who 
indeed  came  back,  bringing  with  him  an  army  that  had  receiv¬ 
ed  no  harm,  and  a  great  deal  of  prey  ;  fifty  two  thousand 
beeves,  seventy-five  thousand  six  hundred  sheep,  sixty 
thousand  asses,  with  an  immense  quantity  of  gold  and  silver 
furniture,  which  the  Midianites  made  use  of  in  their  houses; 
for  they  were  so  wealthy,  that  they  were  very  luxurious. 
There  were  also  led  captive  about  *thirty-two  thousand  vir¬ 
gins.  So  Moses  parted  the  prey  into  parts,  and  gave  one  fif¬ 
tieth  part  to  Eleazer  and  the  two  priests,  and  another  fiftieth 
part  to  the  Levites  ;  and  distributed  the  rest  of  the  prey 
among  the  people.  After  which  they  lived  happily,  as  having 
obtained  an  abundance  of  good  things  by  their  valour  ;  and 
there  being  no  misfortune  that  attended  them,  or  hindered  the 
enjoyment  of  that  happiness. 

2.  But  Moses  was  now  grown  old,  and  appointed  Joshua 
for  his  successor,  both  to  receive  directions  from  God  as  a 
prophet,  and  for  a  commander  of  the  army,  if  they  should  at 
any  time  stand  in  need  of  such  a  one;  and  this  was  done  by 
the  command  of  God,  that  to  him  the  care  of  the  public  should 
be  committed.  Now  Joshua  had  been  instructed  in  all  those 


*  The  slaughter  of  all  the  Midianite  women,  that  had  prostituted 
themselves  to  the  lesvd  Israelites,  and  the  preservation  of  those  that  had 
not  been  guilty  therein  ;  the  last  of  which  w  ere  no  fewer  than  32,000, 
both  here,  and  Numb.  xxxi  15,  16,  17,  35,  40,  46,  and  both  by  the  par¬ 
ticular  command  of  God,  are  highly  remarkable  ;  and  show,  that  even 
in  nations,  otherwise  for  their  wickedness  doomed  to  destruction,  the 
innocent  were  sometimes  particularly  and  providentially  taken  care  of, 
and  delivered  from  that  destruction,  which  directly  implies,  that  it  was 
the  wickedness  of  the  nations  of  Canaan,  and  nothing  else,  that  occa¬ 
sioned  their  excision.  See  Gen.  xv.  16.  1  Sam.  xv.  18,  33.  Constilut- 
Apost-  B.  viii.  ch.  xii.  p.  402.  In  the  first  of  which  places,  the  reason  of 
the  delays  of  the  punishment  ot  the  Amoriles  is  given,  because  their  ini¬ 
quity  was  not  yet  full.  In  the  second,  Saul  is  ordered  to  go  anil  destroy 
the  sinners,  the  Jlmalehiles,  plainly  implying  that  they  were,  therefore, 
to  be  destroyed  because  they  were  sinners,  and  not  otherwise.  In  the 
third,  the  reason  is  given,  why  king  Agag  was  not  to  be  spared,  viz.  be¬ 
cause  of  his  former  cruelty,  as  thy  sword  hath  made  [ the  Hebrew']  women 
childless,  so  shall  thy  mother  be  made  childless  among  women  by  the  lit - 
brews.  In  the  last  place,  the  Apostles,  or  their  amanuensis  Clement, 
give  this  reason  for  the  necessity  of  the  coming  of  Christ,  that  men  had 
formerly  perverted  both  the  positive  law,  and  that  of  nature,  and  had  cast 
out  of  their  mind  the  memory  of  the  flood,  the  burning  of  Sodom,  tbe 
plagues  of  the  Egyptians,  and  the  slaughter  of  Ike  inhabilantsof  Palestine, 
as  signs  of  most  amazing  impatience  and  insensibility,  under  the  pun¬ 
ishment  of  horrid  wickedness. 


ANTIQUITIES 


264 


Booh  IV. 


kinds  of  learning  which  concerned  the  laws,  and  God  himself, 
and  Moses  had  been  his  instructor. 

3.  At  this  time  it  was,  that  the  two  tribes  of  Gad,  and 
lleubel,  and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  abounded  in  a  mul¬ 
titude  of  cattle,  as  well  as  in  all  other  kinds  of  prosperity, 
whence  they  had  a  meeting,  and  in  a  body  came  and  besought 
Moses  to  give  them,  as  their  peculiar  portion,  that  land  of  the 
Amorites,  which  they  had  taken  by  right  of  war,  because  it 
was  fruitful,  and  good  for  feeding  of  cattle.  But  Moses  sup¬ 
posing  that  they  were  afraid  of  fighting  with  the  Canaanites, 
and  invented  this  provision  for  their  cattle  as  an  handsome  ex¬ 
cuse  for  avoiding  that  war,  he  called  them  arrant  cowards  ; 
and  said,  “  they  had  only  contrived  a  decent  excuse  for  that 
cowardice,  and  that  they  had  a  mind  to  live  in  luxury  and 
ease,  while  all  the  rest  were  labouring  with  great  pains  to  ob¬ 
tain  the  land  they  were  desirous  to  have,  and  that  they  were 
not  willing  to  march  along,  and  undergo  the  remaining  hard 
service,  whereby  they  were,  under  the  divine  promise,  to 
pass  over  Jordan,  and  overcome  those  our  enemies  which 
God  had  showed  them,  and  so  obtain  their  land.”  But  these 
tribes,  when  they  saw  that  Moses  was  angry  with  them,  and 
when  they  could  not  deny  but  he  had  a  just  cause  to  be  dis¬ 
pleased  at  their  petition,  made  an  apology  for  themselves  j 
and  said,  that  “it  was  not  on  account  of  their  fear  of  dan¬ 
gers,  nor  on  account  of  their  laziness,  that  they  made  this  re¬ 
quest  to  him,  but  that  they  might  leave  the  prey  they  had  got¬ 
ten  in  places  of  safety,  and  thereby  might  be  more  expedite, 
and  ready  to  undergo  difficulties,  and  to  fight  battles.”  I  hey 
added  this  also,  that  “  when  they  had  built  cities,  wherein 
they  might  preserve  their  children,  and  wives,  and  posses¬ 
sions,  if  he  would  bestow  them  upon  them,  they  would  go 
along  with  the  rest  of  the  army.”  Hereupon  Moses  wras 
pleased  with  what  they  said  :  so  he  called  for  Eleazer  the 
high-priest,  and  Joshua,  and  the  chief  of  the  tribes,  and  per¬ 
mitted  these  tribes  to  possess  the  land  of  the  Amorites  ;  but 
upon  this  condition,  that  they  should  join  with  their  kinsmen 
in  the  war,  until  all  things  were  settled.  Upon  which  condi¬ 
tion  they  took  possession  of  the  country,  and  built  them  strong 
cities,  and  put  into  them  their  children,  and  their  wives,  and 
whatsoever  else  they  had,  that  might  be  an  impediment  to  the 
labours  of  their  future  marches. 

4.  Moses  also  now  built  those  ten  cities,  which  were  to  be 
of  the  number  of  the  forty-eight  [for  the  Levites  ;]  three  of 
which  he  allotted  to  those  that  slew  any  person  involuntarily, 
and  fled  to  them,  and  he  assigned  the  same  time  for  their  ba¬ 
nishment  with  that  of  the  life  of  the  high-priest  under  whom 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


265 


Chap.  vin. 

the  slaughter  and  flight  happened,  after  which  death  of  the 
high-priest,  he  permitted  the  slayer  to  return  home.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  time  of  his  exile,  the  relations  of  him  that  was  slain 
may,  by  this  law,  kill  the  man-slayer,  if  they  caught  him  with¬ 
out  the  bounds  of  the  city  to  which  he  fled,  though  this  per¬ 
mission  was  not  granted  to  any  other  person.  Now  the  cities 
which  were  set  apart  for  this  flight  were  these  ;  Bezer,  at  the 
borders  of  Arabia  ;  Ramoth,  of  the  land  of  Gilead  ;  and  Go¬ 
lan,  in  the  land  of  Bashan.  There  were  to  be  also,  by  Mo¬ 
ses’s  command,  three  other  cities  allotted  for  the  habitation  of 
these  fugitives  out  of  the  cities  of  the  Levites,  but  not  till  after 
they  should  be  in  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan. 

5.  At  this  time  the  chief  men  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  came 
to  Moses,  and  informed  him,  that  there  was  an  eminent  man 
of  their  tribe  dead,  whose  name  was  Zelophehad,  who  left  no 
male  children,  but  left  daughters ;  and  asked  him,  whether 
these  daughters  might  inherit  his  land  or  not  ?  He  made  this 
answer,  that  if  they  shall  marry  into  their  own  tribe,  they 
shall  carry  their  estate  along  with  them  :  but  if  they  dispose, 
of  themselves  in  marriage  to  men  of  another  tribe,  they  shall 
leave  their  inheritance  in  their  father’s  tribe,  and  then  it  was 
that  Moses  ordained,  that  every  one’s  inheritance  should  con¬ 
tinue  in  his  own  tribe. 


CHAP.  VIII. 

I 

The  polity  settled  by  Moses  ;  and  lime  he  disappeared  from 

among  mankind. 

§  1.  When  forty  years  were  completed,  within  thirty  days, 
Moses  gathered  the  congregation  together  near  Jordan, 
where  the  city  Abila  now  stands,  a  place  full  of  palm  trees  ; 
and  all  the  people  being  come  together,  he  spake  thus  to 
them  : 

2.  “  O  you  Israelites  and  fellow-soldiers  !  who  have  been 
partners  with  me  in  this  long  and  uneasy  journey,  since  it  is 
now  the  will  of  God,  and  the  course  of  old  age  at  an  hundred 
and  twenty,  requires  it,  that  I  should  depart  out  of  this  life  ; 
and  since  God  has  forbidden  me  to  be  a  patron  or  an  assistant 
to  you  in  what  remains  to  be  done  beyond  Jordan,  I  thought 
it  reasonable  not  to  leave  off  my  endeavours  even  now  for 
your  happiness,  but  to  do  my  utmost  to  procure  for  you  the 
eternal  enjoyment  of  good  things,  and  a  memorial  for  myself, 
when'you  shall  be  in  the  fruition  of  great  plenty  and  prospe¬ 
rity  :  come,  therefore,  let  me  suggest  to  you  by  what  means 
you  may  be  happy,  and  may  leave  an  eternal  prosperous  pos- 
voj>.  i,.  'h 


266 


Booh  IV ; 


ANTIQUITIES 

session  thereof  to  your  children  after  you,  and  then  let  me 
thus  go  out  of  the  world  $  and  I  cannot  but  deserve  to  be  be¬ 
lieved  by  you,  both  on  account  of  the  great  things  I  have  al¬ 
ready  done  for  you,  and  because,  when  souls  are  about  to 
leave  the  body,  they  speak  with  the  sincerest  freedom.  O* 
children  of  Israel  !  there  is  but  one  scource  of  happiness  for 
all  mankind,  the  favour  of  God,  for  he  alone  is  able  to  give 
good  things  to  those  that  deserve  them,  and  to  deprive  those 
of  them  that  sin  against  him  ;  towards  whom,  if  you  behave 
yourselves  according  to  his  will,  and  according  to  what  I,  who 
well  understand  his  mind,  do  exhort  you  to,  you  will  both  be 
esteemed  blessed,  and  will  be  admired  by  all  men  ;  and  will 
never  come  into  misfortunes,  nor  cease  to  be  happy  :  you  will 
then  preserve  the  possession  of  the  good  things  you  already 
have,  and  will  quickly  obtain  those  that  you  at  present  are  in 
want  of,  only  do  you  be  obedient  to  those  whom  God  would 
have  you  to  follow.  Nor  do  you  prefer  any  other  constitu¬ 
tion  of  government  before  the  laws  now  given  you,  neither  do 
you  disregard  that  way  of  divine  worship  which  you  now  have, 
nor  change  it  for  any  other  form  :  and  if  you  do  this,  you  will 
be  the  most  courageous  of  all  men,  in  undergoing  the  fatigues 
of  war,  and  will  not  be  easily  conquered  by  any  of  your  ene¬ 
mies  ;  for  while  God  is  present  with  you  to  assist  you,  it  is 
to  be  expected  that  you  will  be  able  to  despise  the  opposition 
of  all  mankind  :  and  great  rewards  of  virtue  are  proposed  for 
you,  if  you  preserve  that  virtue  through  your  whole  lives. 
Virtue  itself  is  indeed  the  principal  and  first  reward,  and  af¬ 
ter  that  it  bestows  abundance  of  others  ;  so  that  your  exercis¬ 
es  of  virtue  towards  other  men  will  make  your  own  lives  hap¬ 
py,  and  render  you  more  glorious'  than  foreigners  can  be, 
and  procure  you  an  undisputed  reputation  with  posterity. 
These  blessings  you  will  be  able  to  obtain,  in  case  you  heark¬ 
en  to,  and  observe  those  laws  which,  by  divine  revelation,  I 
have  ordained  for  you  ;  that  is,  in  case  withal,  you  meditate 
upon  the  wisdom  that  is  in  them.  I  am  going  from  you  my- 
self ;  rejoicing  in  the  good  things  you  enjoy:  and  I  recom¬ 
mend  you  to  the  wise  conduct  of  your  law,  to  the  becoming 
order  of  your  polity,  and  to  the  virtues  of  your  commanders, 
who  will  take  care  of  what  is  for  your  advantage.  And  that 
God,  who  has  been  till  now  your  leader,  and  by'  whose  good- 


*  Josephus  here,  in  this  one  sentence,  sums  up  his  notion  of  Moses’s 
very  long  and  very  serious  exhortations  in  t lie  book  of  Deuteronomy  ; 
and  his  words  are  so  true,  and  of  such  importance,  that  they  deserve  to 
be  had  in  constant  remembrance  both  Joy  Jews  and  Christians  :  0  ch  il¬ 
dren  of  Israel !  there  is  but  one  source  of  happiness- for  all  mankind,  the 
FAVOUR  of  God 


OF  TIIE  JEWS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


26? 


will,  I  have  myself  been  useful  to  you,  will  not  put  a  period 
now  to  his  providence  over  you,  but  as  long  as  you  desire  to 
have  him  your  protector,  in  your  pursuits  after  virtue,  so 
long  will  you  enjoy  his  care  over  you.  Your  high-priest 
also,  Eleazer,  as  well  as  Joshua,  with  the  senate,  and  chief 
of  your  tribes,  will  go  before  you,  and  suggest  the  best  advic¬ 
es  to  you  ;  by  iobowing  which  advices,  you  will  continue  to 
be  happy,  to  whom  do  you  give  ear,  without  reluctance,  as 
sensible  that  all  such  as  know  well  how  to  be  governed,  will 
also  know  how  to  govern,  if  they  be  promoted  to  that  au¬ 
thority  themselves.  And  do  not  you  esteem  liberty  to  con¬ 
sist  in  opposing  such  directions  as  your  governors  think  fit 
to  give  you  for  your  practice,  as  at  present  indeed,  you  place 
your  liberty  in  nothing  else  but  abusing  your  benefactors  : 
which  error,  if  you  can  avoid  for  the  time  to  come,  your  af¬ 
fairs  will  be  in  a  better  condition  than  they  have  hitherto 
been  :  nor  do  you  ever  indulge  such  a  degree  of  passion  in 
these  matters,  as  you  have  oftentimes  done  when  you  have 
been  very  angry  at  me  ;  for  you  know  that  I  have  been  oft- 
ener  in  danger  of  death  from  you  than  from  our  enemies. 
W  hat  I  now  put  you  in  mind  of,  is  not  done  in  order  to  re¬ 
proach  you,  for  1  do  not  think  it  proper,  now  I  am  going  out 
of  the  world,  to  bring  this  to  your  remembrance,  in  order  to 
leave  you  offended  at  me,  since  at  the  time,  when  I  under¬ 
went  those  hardships  for  you,  I  was  not  angry  at  you,  but  I 
do  it  in  order  to  make  you  wiser  hereafter,  and  to  teach  you 
that  this  will  be  for  your  security  :  I  mean,  that  you  never 
be  injurious  to  those  that  preside  over  you,  even  when  jmu 
are  become  rich,  as  you  will  be  to  a  great  degree,  when  )rou 
have  passed  over  Jordan,  and  are  in  possession  of  the  land 
of  Canaan.  Since  when  you  shall  have  once  proceeded  so 
far  by  your  wealth,  as  to  a  contempt  and  disregard  of  virtue, 
you  will  also  forfeit  the  favour  of  God  ;  and  when  you  have 
made  him  your  enemy,  you  will  be  beaten  in  war,  and  will 
have  the  land  which  you  possess  taken  away  again  from  you 
by  your  enemies,  and  this  with  great  reproaches  upon  your 
conduct.  You  will  be  scattered  over  the  whole  world,  and 
will,  as  slaves,  entirely  fdl  both  sea  and  land  :  and  when  once 
you  have  bad  the  experience  of  what  I  now  say,  you  will  re¬ 
pent,  and  remember  the  laws  you  have  broken,  when  it  is  too 
late.  Whence  I  would  advise  you,  if  you  intend  to  preserve 
these  laws,  to  leave  none  of  your  enemies  alive  when  you 
have  conquered  them,  but  to  look  upon  it  as  for  your  advan¬ 
tage  to  destroy  them  all,  lest,  if  you  permit  them  to  live,  you 
taste  of  their  manners,  and  thereby  corrupt  your  own  proper 
institutions.  I  also  do  farther  exhort  you  to  overthrow  thejr 


ANTIQUITIES 


Bookir . 


?6S 


altars,  and  their  groves,  and  whatsoever  temples  they  have 
among  them,  and  to  burn  all  such  their  nation  and  their  very 
memory  with  fire,  for  by  this  means  alone  the  safety  of  your 
own  happy  constitution  can  be  firmly  secured  to  you.  And 
in  order  to  prevent  your  ignorance  of  virtue,  and  the  degene¬ 
racy  of  your  nature  into  vice,  I  have  also  ordained  your  laws,  by 
divine  suggestion,  and  a  form  of  government,  which  are  so 
good,  that  if  you  regularly  observe  them,  you  will  be  esteemed 
of  all  men  the  most  happy.” 

3.  When  he  had  spoken  thus,  he  gave  them  the  laws  and 
the  constitution  of  government  written  in  a  book.  Upon 
which  the  people  fell  into  tears,  and  appeared  already  touched 
with  the  sense  that  they  should  have  a  great  want  of  their 
conductor,  because  they  remembered  what  a  number  of  dan¬ 
gers  he  had  passed  through,  and  what  care  he  bad  taken  of 
their  preservation  :  they  desponded  about  what  would  come 
upon  them  after  he  was  dead,  and  thought  they  should  never 
have  another  governor  like  him  ;  and  feared  that  God  would 
then  take  less  care  of  them  when  Moses  was  gone,  who  used 
to  intercede  for  them.  They  also  repented  of  what  they  had 
said  to  him  in  the  wilderness  when  they  were  angry,  and 
were  in  grief  on  those  accounts,  insomuch,  that  the  w  hole  bo¬ 
dy  of  the  people  fell  into  tears  with  such  bitterness,  that  it 
was  past  the  power  of  words  to  comfort  them  in  their  alllic- 
tion.  However,  Moses  gave  them  some  consolation  ;  and  by 
calling  them  off  the  thought  how  worthy  he  was  of  their 
weeping  fot  him,  he  exhorted  them  to  keep  to  that  form  of 
government  he  had  given  them  ;  and  then  the  congregation 
was  dissolved  at  that  time. 

4.  Accordingly,  I  shall  now  first  discribe  this  form  of  gov¬ 
ernment,  which  was  agreeable  to  the  dignity  and  virtue  of 
Moses  ;  and  shall  thereby  inform  those  that  read  these  Anti¬ 
quities,  what  our  original  settlements  were,  and  shall  then 
proceed  to  the  remaining  histories.  Now  those  settlements 
are  all  still  in  writing  as  he  left  them  ;  and  we  shall  add  no¬ 
thing  by  way  of  ornament,  nor  any  thing  besides  w  hat  Moses 
left  us,  only  we  shall  so  far  innovate  as  to  digest  the  several 
kinds  of  laws  into  a  regular  system,  for  they  were  by  him 
left  in  writing  as  they  were  accidentally  scattered  in  their  de¬ 
livery,  and  as  he  upon  inquiry  had  learned  them  of  God.  On 
which  account,  I  have  thought  it  necessary  to  premise  this 
observation  beforehand,  lest  any  of  my  own  countrymen 
should  blame  me,  as  having  been  guilty  of  an  offence  herein. 
Now  part  of  our  constitution  will  include  the  laws  that  belong 
to  our  political  state.  As  for  those  law's  which  Moses  left 
concerning  our  common  conversation  and  intercourse  one  witl} 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


2  6y 


another,  I  have  reserved  that  for  a  discourse  concerning  our 
manner  of  life,  and  the  occasion  of  those  laws,  which  1  pro¬ 
pose  to  myself,  with  God’s  assistance,  to  write  after  I  have  fin¬ 
ished  the  work  I  am  now  upon. 

5.  When  you  have  possessed  yourselves  of  the  land  of  Ca¬ 
naan,  and  have  leisure  to  enjoy  the  good  things  of  it,  and 
when  you  have  afterward  determined  to  build  cities,  if  you 
will  do  what  is  pleasing  to  God,  you  will  have  a  secure  state 
of  happiness.  Let  there  be  then  one  city  of  the  land  of  Ca¬ 
naan,  and  this  situate  in  the  most  agreeable  place  for  its  good¬ 
ness,  and  very  eminent  in  itself,  and  let  it  be  that  which  God 
shall  choose  for  himself,  by  prophetic  revelation.  Let  there 
also  be  one  temple  therein,  and  one  altar,  not  reared  of  hewn 
stones,  but  of  such  as  you  gather  together  at  random  ;  which 
stones,  when  they  are  whited  over  with  mortar,  will  have  an 
handsome  appearance,  and  be  beautiful  to  the  sight.  Let  the 
ascent  to  it  be  *not  by  steps,  but  by  an  acclivity  of  raised 
earth.  And  let  there  be  neither  an  altar,  nor  a  temple,  in  any 
other  city  :  for  God  is  but  one,  and  the  nation  of  the  Hebrews 
is  but  one. 

6.  He  that  blasphemeth  God,  let  him  be  stoned  ;  and  let 
him  hang  upon  a  tree  all  that  day,  and  then  let  him  be  buried 
in  an  ignominious  and  obscure  manner. 

7.  Let  those  that  live  as  remote  as  the  bounds  of  the  land 
which  the  Hebrews  shall  possess,  come  to  that  city  where  the 
temple  shall  be,  and  this  three  times  in  a  year,  that  they  may 
give  thanks  to  God  for  his  former  benefits,  and  may  entreat 
him  for  those  that  shall  want  hereafter  ;  and  let  them,  by  this 
means,  maintain  a  friendly  correspondence  with  one  another 
by  such  meetings  and  feasting  together,  for  it  is  a  good  thing 
for  those  that  are  of  the  same  stock,  and  under  the  same  insti¬ 
tutions  of  laws,  not  to  be  unacquainted  with  each  other; 
which  acquaintance  will  be  maintained  by  thus  conversing  to- 


*  This  law,  both  here  and  Exod.  xx.  25,  26,  of  not  going  up  to  God's 
altar  bp  ladder  steps,  but  on  acclivity,,  seems  not  to  have  belonged  to 
the  altar  of  the  tabernacle,  which  was  in  all  but  three  cubits  high,  Ex¬ 
od.  xxvii.  1,  nor  to  that  of  Ezekiel,  which  was  expressly  to  be  gone  up 
to  by  steps,  xliii.  17,  bu  trather  on  occasional  altars  of  any  considerable 
altitude  and  largeness;  as  also  probably  to  Solomon’s  altar,  to  which 
it  is  here  applied  by  Josephus,  as  well  as  to  that  in  Zorobabel’s  and  He¬ 
rod's  temple,  which  were,  1  think,  all  ten  cubits  high.  See  2  Chron. 
iv.  1,  and  Antiq.  B  viii.  ch.  iii  §7.  vol.ii.  The  reason  why  these  tem¬ 
ples,  and  these  only,  were  to  have  this  ascent  on  an  acclivity,  and  not 
by  steps,  is  obvious,  that  before  the  invention  of  stairs,  such  as  we  now 
use,  decency  could  not  be  otherwise  provided  for  in  the  loose  garments 
which  the  priests  wore,  as  the  law  required.  See  Lamy  of  the  Taber 
nacle  aud  Temple,  p.  4-H. 

Z  2 


270  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  IK 

gether,  and  by  seeing  and  talking  with  one  another,  and  so  re¬ 
newing  the  memorials  of  this  union,  for  if  they  do  not  thus 
converse  together  continually,  they  will  appear  like  mere 
strangers  to  one  another. 

8.  Let  there  be  taken  out  of  your  fruits  a  tenth,  besides 
that  which  you  have  allotted  to  give  to  the  priests  and  Levites. 
This  you  may  indeed  sell  in  the  country,  but  it  is  to  be  used 
in  those  feasts  and  sacrifices  that  are  to  be  celebrated  in  the 
holy  city  ;  for  it  is  fit  that  you  should  enjoy  those  fruits  of  the 
earth  which  God  gives  you  to  possess,  so  as  may  be  to  the 
honour  of  the  donor. 

9.  You  are  not  to  offer  sacrifices  out  of  the  #hire  of  a 
woman  which  is  an  harlot,  for  the  Deity  is  not  pleased- with 
any  thing  that  arises  from  such  abuses  of  nature  ;  of  which 
sort  none  can  be  worse  than  this  prostitution  of  the  body.  In 
like  manner,  no  one  may  take  the  price  of  the  covering  of  a 
bitch,  either  of  one  that  is  used  in  hunting,  or  in  keeping  of 
sheep,  and  thence  sacrifice  to  God. 

10.  Let  no  one  iblaspheme  those  gods  which  other  cities 
esteem  such  :  nor  may  one  steal  what  belongs  to  strange  tem¬ 
ples  ;  nor  take  away  the  gifts  that  are  dedicated  to  any 
god. 

11.  Let  not  any  one  of  you  wt;ar  a  garment  made  of  wool¬ 
len  and  linen,  for  that  is  appointed  to  be  for  the  priests  alone. 

12.  When  the  multitude  are  assembled  together  into  the 
holy  city  for  sacrificing  every  seventh  year,  at  the  feast  of  ta¬ 
bernacles,  let  the  high-priest  stand  upon,  an  high  desk,  whence 
he  may  be  heard,  and  let  him  read  the  jlaws  to  all  the  peo¬ 
ple  :  and  let  neither  the  women  nor  the  children  be  hinder¬ 
ed  from  hearing,  no,  nor  the  servants  neither  ;  for  it  is  a  good 
thing  that  those  laws  should  be  engraven  in  their  soujs,  and 
preserved  in  their  memories,  that  so  it  may  not  be  possible 
to  blot  them  out,  for  by  this  means  they  will  not  be  guilty  of 
sin,  when  they  cannot  plead  ignorance  of  what. the  laws  have 
enjoined  them.  The  laws  also  will  have  a  great  authority 
among  them,  as  foretelling  what  they  will  suffer  if  they  break 
them  ;  and  imprinting  in  their  souls  by  this  hearing  what  they 

*  The  hire  of  public  or'secret  harlots  was  given  to  Venus  in  Syrians 
Lucian  informs  us,  p.  878,  and  against  some  such  vile  practice  of  the 
old  idolaters  this  law  seems  to  have  been  made. 

t  The  Apostolical  Constitutions,  B  ii.  ch  xxvi.  §  31,  expound  this 
law  of  Moses,  Exod.  xxii.  28.  7 'hou  shall  not  revile  or  blaspheme  Utc 

gods,  or  magistrates,  which  is  a  much  more  probable  expression  than 
this  of  Josephus’s,  of  heathen  gods  as  here,  and  against  Apion,  B.  ii  ch. 
iii  §  4.  vol.  vi. 

t  What  book  of  the  law  was  thus  publicly  read,  see  the  note  on  An- 
tiq.  B.  x.  ch.  v.  §  5.  vol,  ii;  and  Esd.  is.  3$*— 5v. 


Chap.  VIII .  OF  THE  JEWS.  2ft 

commanded  them  to  do,  that  so  there  may  always  be  within 
their  minds  that  intention  of  the  laws  which  they  have  des¬ 
pised  and  broken,  and  have  thereby  been  the  causes  of  their 
own  mischief.  Let  fhe  children  also  learn  the  laws,  as  the 
first  thing  they  are  taught,  which  will  be  the  best  thing  they 
are  taught,  and  will  be  the  cause  of  their  own  future  felicity. 

13.  Let  every  one  commemorate  before  God  the  benefits 
which  he  bestowed  upon  them,  at  their  deliverance  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  and  this  twice  every  day,  both  when  the  day 
begins,  and  when  the  hour  of  sleep  comes  on,  gratitude  be¬ 
ing  in  its  own  nature  a  just  thing,  and  serving  not  only  by 
way  of  return  for  past,  but  also  by  way  of  invitation  of  fu¬ 
ture  favours.  They  are  also  to  inscribe  the  principal  bles¬ 
sings  they  had  received  from  God  upon  their  #doors;  and 
show  the  same  remembrance  of  them  on  their  arms  :  as  also, 
they  are  to  bear  on  their  forehead,  and  their  arm,  those  won¬ 
ders  which  declare  the  power  of  God,  and  his  good-will  to¬ 
wards  them,  that  God’s  readiness  to  bless  them  may  appear 
every  where  conspicuous  about  them. 

14.  Let  there  be  seven  men  to  judge  tin  every  city,  and 
these  such  as  have  been  before  most  zealous  in  the  exercise 
of  virtue  and  righteousness.  Let  every  judge  have  two  offi¬ 
cers  allotted  him  out  of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  Let  those  that 
are  chosen  to  judge  in  the  several  cities  be  had  in  great  ho¬ 
nour;  and  let  none  be  permitted  to  revile  any  others  when 
these  are  present,  nor  to  carry  themselves  in  an  insolent 
manner  to  them,  it  being  natural  that  reverence  towards  those 
in  high  offices  among  men  should  procure  men’s  fear  and 
reverence  towards  God.  Let  those  that  judge  be  permitted 
to  determine  according  as  they  think  to  be  right,  unless  any 


*  Whether  these  phylacteries,  andother  Jewish  memorials  of  the  law 
here  mentioned  by  Josephus  and  by  Moses,  (besides  the  fringes  on  the 
borders  of  their  garments.  Numb  xv.  37.)  were  literally  meant  by  God, 
f  much  question.  That  they  have  been  long  observed  by  the  Pharisees, 
and  1  he  Rabbinical  Jews,  is  certain  ;  however,  the  Caraites,  who  re¬ 
ceive  hot  die  unwritten  traditions  of  the  elders,  but  keep  close  to  the 
written  law,  with  J’rom  and  Grot  ins  think  they  were  not  literally  to  be 
understood  :  as  Bernard  and  Relabel  here  take  notice.  Nor  indeed  do 
1  remember,  that  either  in  the  ancienterbooks  of  the  Old  Testament,  or 
in  the  books  we  call  Apocrypha-  there  are  any  signs  of  such  literal  ob¬ 
servations  appearing  among  the  Jews;  though  their  real  or  mystical 
signification,  i.  c.  the  constant  remembrance  and  obsevationsof  the  laws 
el  God  by  Moses,  be  frequently  inculcated  in  all  the  sacred  writings. 

t  Here,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  §38,  of  his  Life,  §  14,  vol.  iv.  and  of 
tlie  War,  B.  ii.  chap.  xx.  §  5.  vol.  v  are  but.seren  judges  appointed  for 
small  cities,  instead  of  twenly-three  in  the  modern  Rabbins ;  which  mo¬ 
dern  Rabbins  arc  always  but  of  very  little  authority  in  comparison  of 
our  Josephus. 


272  ANTIQUITIES  Book  IV. 

one  can  show  that  they  have  taken  bribes  to  the  perversion 
of  justice,  or  can  allege  any  other  accusation  against  them, 
whereby  it  may  appear  they  have  passed  an  unjust  sentence  : 
for  it  is  not  lit  that  causes  should  be  openly  determined  out 
of  regard  to  gain,  or  to  the  dignity  of  the  suitors,  but  that 
the  judges  should  esteem  what  is  right  before  all  other  things, 
otherwise  God  will  by  that  means  be  despised,  and  esteemed 
inferior  to  -those,  the  dread  of  whose  power  lias  occasioned 
the  unjust  sentence  ;  for  justice  is  the  power  of  God.  He, 
therefore,  that  gratifies  those  in  great  dignity,  supposes  them 
more  potent  than  God  himself.  But  if  these  judges  are  una¬ 
ble  to  give  a  just  sentence  about  the  causes  that  come  before 
them,  (which  case  is  not  unfrequent  in  human  affairs,)  let 
them  send  the  cause  undetermined  to  the  holy  city,  and  there 
let  the  high-priest,  the  prophet,  and  the  sanhedrim,  deter¬ 
mine  as  it  shall  seem  good  to  them. 

15.  But  let  not  a  single  witness  be  credited,  but  three,  or 
two  at  the  least,  and  those  such  whose  testimony  is  confirmed 
by  their  good  lives.  But  let  not  the  testimony  of  *  women 
be  admitted,  on  account  of  thelevity  and  boldness  of  their 
sex.  Nor  let  servants  be  admitted  to  give  testimony,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  ignobility  of  their  soul,  since  it  is  probable  that 
they  may  not  speak  truth,  either  out  of  hope  of  gain,  or  fear 
of  punishment.  But  if  any  one  be  believed  to  have  borne 
false  witness,  let  him,  when  he  is  convicted,  suffer  all  the 
very  same  punishments  which  he,  against  whom  he  bore  wit¬ 
ness,  was  to  have  suffered. 

16.  If  a  murder  be  committed  in  any  place,  and  he  that  did 
it  be  not  found,  nor  is  there  any  suspicion  upon  one  as  he 
had  hated  the  man,  and  so  had  killed  him,  let  there  be  a  very 
diligent  enquiry  made  after  the  man,  and  rewards  proposed 
to  any  who  will  discover  him;  but  if  still  no  information  can 
be  procured,  let  the  magistrates  and  senate  of  those  cities  that 
lie  near  the  place  in  which  the  murder  was  committed,  as¬ 
semble  together,  and  measure  the  distance  from  the  place 
where  the  dead  body  lies;  then  let  the  magistrates  of  the 
nearest  city  thereto  purchase  an  heifer,  and  bring  it  to  a  val¬ 
ley,  and  to  a  place  therein  where  there  is  no  land  ^ploughed, 
or  trees  planted,  and  let  them  cut  the  sinews  of  the  heifer, 
then  the  priests,  and  Levites,  and  senate  of  that  city,  shall 
take  water,  and  wash  their  hands  over  the  head  of  the  heif- 

■*  I.  have  never  observed  elsewhere,  that,  in  (lie  Jewish  government, 
women  were  not  admitted  as  legal  witnesses  in  courts  of  justice.  IVone 
of  our  copies  of  the  Pentateuch  say  a  word  of  it.  It  is  very  probable, 
however,  that  this  was  the  exposition  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  and 
the  practice  of  the  Jews  in  the  days  of  Josephus. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


2  I’d 


er ;  and  they  shall  openly  declare  that  their  hands  are  inno¬ 
cent  of  this  murder,  and  that  they  have  neither  done  it  them¬ 
selves,  nor  been  assisting  to  any  that  did  it.  They  shall  also 
beseech  God  to  be  merciful  to  them,  that  no  such  horrid  fact 
may  any  more  be  done  in  that  land. 

17-  Aristocracy,  and  the  way  of  living  under  it,  is  the  best 
constitution  :  and  may  you  never  have  any  inclination  to  any 
other  form  of  government ;  and  may  you  always  love  that 
form,  and  have  the  laws  for  your  governors  and  govern  all 
your  actions  according  to  them ;  for  you  need  no  supreme 
governor  but  God.  But  if  you  shall  desire  a  king,  let  him  be 
one  of  your  own  nation  :  let  him  be  always  careful  of  justice 
and  other  virtues,  perpetually  :  let  him  submit  to  the  laws, 
and  esteem  God’s  commands  to  be  his  highest  wisdom ;  but 
let  him  do  nothing  without  the  high-priest,  and  the  votes  of 
the  senators  :  let  him  not  have  a  great  number  of  wives,  nor 
pursue  abundance  of  riches,  nor  a  multitude  of  horses,  where¬ 
by  he  may  grow  too  proud  to  submit  to  the  laws.  And  if  he 
affect  any  such  things,  let  him  be  restrained,  lest  he  become 
so  potent  that  his  state  be  inconsistent  with  your  welfare. 

18.  Let  it  not  be  esteemed  lawful  to  remove  boundaries,- 
neither  our  own,  nor  of  those  with  whom  we  are  at  peace. 
Have  a  care  you  do  not  take  those  land-marks  away,  which 
are,  as  it  were,  a  divine  and  unshaken  limitation  of  rights 
made  by  God  himself,  to  last  for  ever,  since  this  going  beyond 
limits,  and  gaining  ground  upon  others,  is  the  occasion  of  wars 
and  seditions  ;  for  those  that  remove  boundaries  are  not  far 
off  an  attempt  to  subvert  the  laws. 

19.  He  that  plants  a  piece  of  land,  whose  trees  produce 
fruits  before  the  fourth  year,  is  not  to  bring  thence  any  first! 
fruits  to  God,  nor  is  he  to  make  use  of  that  fruit  himself,  for 
it  is  not  produced  in  its  proper  season  ;  for  when  nature  has 
a  force  put  on  her  at  an  unreasonable  time,  the  fruit  is  not 
proper  for  God,  nor  for  the  master’s  use;  but  let  the  owner 
gather  all  that  is  grown  on  the  fourth  year,  for  then  it  is  in 
its  proper  season.  And  let  him  that  has  gathered  it,  carry 
it  to  the  holy  city,  and  spend  that,  together  with  the  tithe  of 
his  other  fruits,  in  feasting  with  his  friends,  with  the  orphans, 
and  the  widows.  But  on  the  fifth  year,  the  fruit  is  his  own, 
and  he  may  use  it  as  he  pleases. 

20.  You  are  not  to  sow  a  piece  of  land  with  seed  which  is 
planted  with  vines,  for  it  is  enough  that  it  supply  nourishment 
to  that  plant,  and  be  not  harrassed  by  ploughing  also.  You 
are  to  plough  your  land  with  oxen ;  and  not  to  oblige  other 
animals  to  come  under  the  same  yoke  with  them,  but  to  tili 
your  land  with  those  beasts  that  are  of  the  same  kind  with. 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  IF. 


74 


each  other.  The  seeds  are  also  to  be  pure,  and  without  mix¬ 
ture,  and  not  to  be  compounded  of  two  or  three  sorts,  since 
nature  does  not  rejoice  in  the  union  of  things  that  are  not  in 
their  own  nature  alike  ;  nor  are  you  to  permit  beasts  of  dif¬ 
ferent  kinds  to  gender  together  ;  for  there  is  reason  to  .fear 
that  this  unnatural  abuse  may  extend  from  beasts  of  different 
kinds  to  men,  though  it  takes  its  first  rise  from  evil  practices 
about  such  smaller  things.  Nor  is  any  thing  to  be  allowed, 
by  imitation,  whereof  any  degree  of  subversion  may  creep 
into  the  constitution.  Nor  do  the  laws  neglect  small  matters, 
but  provide  that  even  those  may  be  managed  after  an  un- 
blameable  manner. 

21.  Let  not  those  that  reap,  and  gather  in  the  corn  that  is 
reaped,  gather  in  the  gleanings  also,  but  let  them  rather  leave 
some  handfuls  for  those  that  are  in  want  of  the  necessaries  of 
life,  that  it  may  be  a  support  and  a  supply  to  them,  in  order 
to  their  subsistence.  In  like  manner,  when  they  gather  their 
grapes  let  them  leave  some  smaller  bunches  for  the  poor  : 
and  let  them  pass  over  some  of  the  fruits  of  the  olive-trees  when 
they  gather  them,  and  leave  them  to  be  partaken  of  by  those 
that  have  none  of  their  own  ;  for  the  advantage  arising  from 
the  exact  collection  of  all  will  not  be  so  considerable  to  the 
owners,  as  will  arise  from  the  gratitude  of  the  poor.  And 
God  will  provide  that  the  land  shall  more  willingly  produce 
what  shall  be  for  the  nourishment  of  its  fruits,  in  case  you 
do  not  merely  take  care  of  your  own  advantage,  but  have  re¬ 
gard  to  the  support  of  others  also.  Nor  are  you  to  muzzle 
the  mouths  of  the  oxen  when  they  tread  the  ears  of  corn  in 
the  threshing-floor;  for  it  is  not  just  to  restrain  our  fellow' 
labouring  animals,  and  those  that  w'ork  in  order  to  its  produc¬ 
tion,  of  this  fruit  of  their  labours.  Nor  are  you  to  prohibit 
those  that  pass  by  at  the  time  when  your  fruits  are  ripe  to 
touch  them,  but  to  give  them  leave  to  fill  themselves  full  o! 
what  you  have;  and  this  whether  they  be  of  your  own  coun¬ 
try  or  strangers,  as  being  glad  of  the  opportunity  of  giving 
them  some  part  of  your  fruits  when  they  are  ripe;  but  let  it 
not  be  esteemed  lawful  for  them  to  carry  any  away.  Nor 
let  those  that  gather  the  grapes,  and  carry  them  to  the  wine¬ 
presses,  restrain  those  whom  they  meet  from  eating  of  them ; 
for  it  is  unjust,  out  of  envy  to  hinder  those  that  desire  it,  to 
partake  of  the  good  things  that  come  into  the  world,  accord¬ 
ing  to  God’s  will,  and  this  while  the  season  is  at  the  height, 
and  is  hastening  away  as  it  pleases  God.  Nay,  if  some,  out 
of  bashfulness,  are  unwilling  to  touch  these  fruits,  let  them 
be  encouraged  to  take  of  them  ;  I  mean  those  that  are  Israel¬ 
ites,  as  if  they  were  themselves  the  owners  and  lords,  on  ac- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


275 


Chap.  VIII. 

count  of  the  kindred  there  is  between  them.  Nay,  let  them 
desire  men  that  come  from  other  countries,  to  partake  of 
these  tokens  of  friendship  which  God  has  given  in  their  pro¬ 
per  season  ;  for  that  is  not  to  be  deemed  as  idly  spent,  which 
any  one  out  of  kindness  communicates  to  another,  since  God 
bestows  plenty  of  good  things  on  men,  not  only  for  them¬ 
selves  to  reap  the  advantage,  but  also  to  give  to  others  in  a 
way  of  generosity ;  and  he-is  desirous,  by  this  means,  to  make 
known  to  others  his  peculiar  kindness  to  the  people  of  fsrael, 
and  how  freely  he  communicates  happiness  to  them,  while 
they  abundantly  communicate  out  of  their  great  superfluities 
to  even  these  foreigners  also.  Cut  for  him  that  acts  con¬ 
trary  to  this  law,  let  him  be  beaten  with  *forty  stripes  save 
one,  by  the  public  executioner;  let  him  undergo  this  punish¬ 
ment,  which  is  a  most  ignominious  one  for  a  free  man,  and 
this  because  he  was  such  a  slave  to  gain  as  to  lay  a  blot  upon 
his  own  dignity  ;  for  it  is  proper  for  you,  who  have  had  the 
experience  of  the  afflictions  in  Egypt,  and  of  those  in  the 
wilderness,  to  make  provision  for  those  that  are  in  the  like 
circumstances ;  and  while  you  have  now  obtained  plenty 
yourselves,  through  the  mercy  and  providence  of  God,  to 
distribute  of  the  same  plenty,  by  the  like  sympathy  to  such 
as  stand  in  need  of  it. 

22.  Desides  those  two  tithes,  which  I  have  already  said  you 
are  to  pay  every  year,  the  one  for  the  Levites,  the  other  for 
the  festivals,  you  are  to  bring  every  third  year  a  t  third 
tithe  to  be  distributed  to  those  that  want  it ;  to  women  also 
that  are  widows :  and  to  children  that  are  orphans.  But 
as  to  the  ripe  fruits,  let  them  carry  that  which  is  ripe  first 
of  all  into  the  temple  ;  and  when  they  have  blessed  God  for 
that  land  which  bear  them,  and  which  he  had  given  them 
for  a  possession,  when  they  have  also  offered  those  sacrifices 
which  the  law  has  commanded  them  to  bring,  let  them  give 
the  first  fruits  to  the  priests.  But  when  any  one  hath  done 
this,  and  hath  brought  the  tithe  of  all  that  he  hath,  together 
with  those  first  fruits  that  are  for  the  Levites,  and  for  the  fes¬ 
tivals;  and  when  he  is  about  to  go  home,  let  him  stand  be¬ 
fore  the  holy  house,  and  return  thanks  to  God,  that  he  hath 


*  Tliis  penalty  of  forty  stripes  save  one,  here  mentioned,  and  §23, 
was  five  times  indicted  on  St.  Paul  himself,  by  the  Jews,  2  Cor.  xi.  24. 

f  Josephus’s  plain  and  express  interpretation  of  this  law' of  Moses, 
Dent  xiv.  28,  29,  xxvi.  12,  &c.,  that  the  Jews  were  bound  every  third 
year  to  pay  three  tithes,  that  to  the  Levites,  that  for  sacrifices  at  Jeru¬ 
salem,  and  this  for  the  indigent,  the  widow,  and  the  orphan,  is  fully 
confirmed  by  the  practice  of  good  old  Tobit,  even  when  lie  was  a  cap¬ 
tive  at  Assyria,  against  the  opinion  of  the  Rabbins,  Tobit, ch.  1.  §  6,  7,8. 


Booh  IK 


ANTIQUITIES 

delivered  them  from  the  injurious  treatment  they  had  in 
Egypt,  and  hath  given  them  a  good  land,  and  a  large,  and  lets 
them  enjoy  the  fruits  thereof;  and  when  he  has  openly  tes¬ 
tified  that  he  had  fully  paid  the  tithes  [and  other  dues,]  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  laws  of  Moses,  let  him  entreat  God  that  he 
will  be  ever  merciful  and  gracious  to  him ;  and-continne  so 
to  be  to  all  the  Hebrews,  both  by  preserving  the  good  things 
which  he  hath  already  given  them,  and  by  adding  what  it  is 
Still  in  his  power  to  bestow  upon  them. 

23.  Let  the  Hebrews  marry,  at  the  age  fit  for  it,  virgins 
that  are  free,  and  born  of  good  parents.  And  he  that  does 
not  marry  a  virgin,  let  him  not  corrupt  another  man’s  wife, 
and  marry  her,  nor  grieve  her  former  husband.  Nor  let  free 
men  marry  slaves,  although  their  affection  should  strongly 
bias  any  of  them  so  to  do,  for  it  is  decent,  and  for  the  dignity 
of  the  persons  themselves,  to  govern  those  their  affections. 
And  farther,  no  one  ought  to  marry  an  harlot,,  whose  matri¬ 
monial  oblations,  arising  from  the  prostitution  of  her  body, 
God  will  not  receive ;  for  by  these  means  the  disposition  of 
the  children  will  be  liberal  and  virtuous  ;  I  mean  when  they 
are  not  born  of  base  parents,  and  of  the  lustful  conjunction 
of  such  as  marry  women  that  are  not  free.  If  any  one  has 
been  espoused  to  a  wom/tn  as  to  a  virgin,  and  does  not  after¬ 
ward  find  her  so  to  be,  let  him  bring  this  action  and  accuse 
her,  and  let  him  make  use  of  such  * * * §  indications  to  prove  his 
accusation  as  he  is  furnished  withal ;  and  let  the  father  or  the 
brother  of  the  damsel,  or  some  one  that  is  after  them  nearest 
of  kin  to  her  defend  her?-  If  the  damsel  obtain  a  sentence 
in  her  favour,  that  she  had  not  been  guilty,  let  her  live  with 
her  husband  that  accused  her  ;  and  let  him  not  have  any  fur¬ 
ther  power  at  all  to  put  her  away,  unless  she  give  him  very 
great  occasions  of  her  suspicion,  and  £uch  as  can  be  no  way 
contradicted.  But  for  him  that  brings  an  accusation  and  ca¬ 
lumny  against  his  wife,  in  an  impudent  and  rash  manner,  let 
him  be  punished  by  receiving  forty  stripes  save  one,  and  let 
him  pay  fifty  shekels  to  her  father  :  but  if  the  damsel  be  con- 


*  These  tokens  of  virginity,  as  the  Hebrew  and  Septuagint  style  them, 
Deut  xxii  15,  17,  20,  seem  to  me  very  different  from  what  our  later  in¬ 
terpreters  suppose.  They  appear  rather  to  have  been  such  close  linen 

garments  as  were  never  put  off  virgins  after  a  certain  age,  till  they  were 

married,  but  before  witnesses,  and  which-  while  they  were  entire,  were 
certain  evidences  of  such  virginity.  See  these,  Antiq.  i.  B.  vii.  ch.viii. 

§  1.  vol  ii.  2Sam.xiii.  18.  Isaiah  vi.  1.  Josephus  here  determines  no¬ 
thing  what  w'ere  these  particular  tokens  of  virginity  or  of  corruption 
perhaps  he  thought  he  could  not  easily  describe  them  to  the  heathens, 
without  saying  what  they  might  have  thought  a  breach  of  modesty; 
which  seeming  breach  of  modesty,  laws  cannot  always  wholly  avoid. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


277 


Chap.  VIII. 

victed,  as  having  been  corrupted,  and  is  one  of  the  common 
people,  let  her  be  stoned,  because  she  did  not  preserve  her 
virginity  till  she  were  lawfully  married  ;  but  if  she  were  the 
daughter  of  a  priest,  let  her  be  burnt  alive.  If  any  one  has 
two  wives,  and  if  he  greatly  respect  and  be  kind  to  one  of 
them,  either  out  of  his  affection  to  hpr,  or  for  her  beauty, 
or  for  some  other  reason,  while  the  other  is  of  less  esteem 
with  him  ;  and  if  the  son  of  her  that  is  beloved  be  the  young¬ 
er  by  birth  than  another  born  of  the  other  wife,  but  endea¬ 
vours  to  obtain  the  right  of  primogeniture  from  his  fathers 
kindness  to  his  mother,  and  would  thereby  obtain  a  double 
portion  of  his  father’s  substance,  for  that  double  portion  is 
what  I  have  allotted  him  in  the  laws,  let  not  this  be  permit¬ 
ted  ;  for  it  is  unjust,  that  he  who  is  the  elder  by  birth,  should 
be  deprived  of  what  is  due  to  him,  on  the  father’s  disposition 
of  his  estate,  because  his  mother  was  not  equally  regarded 
by  him.  lie  that  hath  corrupted  a  damsel  espoused  to  ano- 
er  man,  in  case  he  had  her  consent,  let  both  him  and  her 
be  put  to  death,  for  they  are  both  equally  guilty,  the  man  be¬ 
cause  he  persuaded  the  woman  willingly  to  submit  to  a  most 
impure  action,  and  to  prefer  it  to  lawful  wedlock,  the  woman 
because  she  was  persuaded  to  yield  herself  to  be  corrupted, 
either  for  pleasure  or  for  gain.  However,  if  a  man  light 
on  a  woman,  when  she  is  alone,  and  forces  her,  where  no¬ 
body  was  present  to  come  to  her  assistance,  let  him  only  be 
put  to  death.  Let  him  that  hath  corrupted  a  virgin  not  yet 
espoused  marry  her ;  but  if  the  father  of  the  damsel  be  not 
willing  that  she  should  be  his  wife,  let  him  pay  fifty  shekels 
as  the  price  of  her  prostitution.  He  that  desires  to  be  di¬ 
vorced  from  his  wife  for  #any  cause  whatsoever,  and  many 
such  causes  happen  among  men,  let  him  in  writing  give  as¬ 
surance  that  he  will  never  use  her  as  his  wife  any  more,  for 
by  this  means  she  may  be  at  liberty  to  marry  another  hus¬ 
band,  although  before  this  bill  of  divorce  be  given,  she  is  not 
to  be  permitted  so  to  do  :  but  if  she  be  nvsused  by  him  also, 
or  if,  when  he  is  dead,  her  first  husband  would  marry  her 
again,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  her  to  return  to  him.  If  a 
woman’s  husband  die,  and  leave  her  without  children,  let  his 
brother  marry  her;  and  let  him  call  the  son  that  was  born 
to  him  by  his  brother’s  name,  and  educate  him  as  the  heir  of 
his  inheritance,  for  this  procedure  will  be  for  the  benefit  of 
the  public,  because  thereby  families  will  not  fail,  and  the  es¬ 
tate  will  continue  among  the  kindred  ;  and  this  will  be  for 

*  These  words  of  Josephus  are  very  like  those  of  the  Pharisees  (o  our 
Saviour  upon  this  very  subject,  Matt.  xix.  3.  Is  it  not  lawful  for  a  man 
to  put  away  his  wife  for  every  cause? 

VOL.  i.  A  a 


278 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  IV. 


the  solace  of  wives  under  their  affliction,  that  they  are  to  be 
married  to  the  next  relations  of  their  former  husbands.  But 
if  the  brother  will  not  marry  her,  let  the  woman  come  be¬ 
fore  the  senate,  and  protest  openly  that  this  brother  will  not 
admit  her  for  his  wife,  but  will  injure  the  memory  of  his  de- 
'  ceased  brother,  while  she  is  willing  to  continue  in  the  family, 
and  to  bear  him  children  ;  and  when  the  senate  have  inquir¬ 
ed  of  him,  for  what  reason  it  is  that  he  is  averse  to  this  mar¬ 
riage,  whether  he  gives  a  bad  or  a  good  reason,  the  matter 
must  come  to  this  issue,  that  the  woman  shall  loose  the  san¬ 
dals  of  the  brother,  and  shall  spit  in  his  face,  and  say,  “  He 
deserves  this  reproachful  treatment  from  her,  as  having  in¬ 
jured  the  memory  of  the  deceased.”  And  then  let  him  go 
away  out  of  the  senate,  and  bear  this  reproach  upon  him  all 
his  life  long  ;  and  let  her  marry  to  whom  she  pleases,  of  such 
as  seek  her  in  marriage.  But  now  if  any  man  take  captive, 
either  a  virgin,  or  one  that  hath  been  *  married,  and  has  a 
mind  to  marry  her,  let  him  not  be  allowed  to  bring  her  to  bed 
to  him,  or  to  live  with  her  as  his  wife,  befoi'e  she  hath  her 
head  shaven,  and  hath  put  on  her  mourning  habit,  and  la¬ 
mented  her  relations  and  friends  that  were  slain  in  the  battle, 
that  by  this  means  she  may  give  vent  to  her  sorrow  for  them, 
and  after  that  may  betake  herself  to  feasting  and  matrimony  ; 
for  it  is  good  for  him  that  takes  a  woman  in  order  to  have  chil¬ 
dren  by  her,  to  be  complaisant  to  her  inclinations,  and  net 
merely  to  pursue  his  own  pleasure,  while  he  hath  no  regard 
to  what  is  agreeable  to  her.  But  when  thirty  days  are  past, 
as  the  time  of  mourning,  for  so  many  are  sufficient  to  prudent 
persons  for  lamenting  the  dearest  friends,  then  let  them  pro¬ 
ceed  to  the  marriage  ;  but  in  case  when  he  hath  satisfied  his 
lust,  he  be  too  proud  to  retain  her  for  his  wife,  let  him  not 
have  it  in  his  power  to  make  her  a  slave,  but  let  her  go  away 
whither  she  pleases,  and  have  that  privilege  of  a  free  woman. 

24.  As  to  those  young  men  that  despise  their  parents,  and 
do  not  pay  them  honour,  but  offer  them  affronts,  either  be¬ 
cause  they  are  ashamed  of  them,  or  think  themselves  wiser 
than  they,  in  the  first  place,  let  their  parents  admonish  them 
in  words,  (for  they  are  by  nature  of  authority  sufficient  for 
becoming  their  judges,)  and  let  them  say  thus  to  them  :  “That 
they  cohabited  together,  not  for  the  sake  of  pleasure,  nor  for 
the  augmentation  of  their  riches,  by  joining  both  their  stocks 
together,  but  that  they  might  have  children  to  take  care  of 
them  in  their  old  age,  and  might  by  them  have  what  they 

*  Here  it  is  supposed,  that  this  captive’s  husband,  if  she  were  before 
a  married  woman,  was  dead  before,  or  rather  was  slain  in  this  very  bat¬ 
tle,  otherwise  it  would  have  been  adultery  in  him  that  married,  her. 


OF  TIIE  JEWS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


/  279 


then  should  want.”  And  say  farther  to  him,  il  That  when 
thou  wast  born  we  took  thee  up  with  gladness,  and  gave  God 
the  greatest  thanks  for  thee,  and  brought  thee  up  with  great 
care,  and  spared  for  nothing  that  appeared  useful  for  thy  pre¬ 
servation,  and  for  thy  instruction  in  what  was  most  excellent. 
And  now,  since  it  is  reasonable  to  forgiv'e  the  sins  of  those 
that  are  young,  let  it  suffice  thee  to  have  given  so  many  indi¬ 
cations  of  thy  contempt  of  us,  reform  thyself,  and  act  more 
wisely  for  the  time  to  come;  considering  that  God  is  dis¬ 
pleased  with  those  that  are  insolent  towards  their  parents,  be¬ 
cause  he  is  himself  the  father  of  the  whole  race  of  mankind, 
and  seems  to  bear  part  of  that  dishonour  which  falls  upon 
those  that  have  the  same  name,  when  they  do  not  meet  with 
due  returns  from  their  children.  And  on  such  the  law  in¬ 
dicts  inexorable  punishment ;  of  which  punishment  mayest 
thou  nevei  have  the  experience  !”  Now  if  the  insolence  of 
young  men  be  thus  cured,  let  them  escape  the  reproach  which 
their  former  errors  deserved,  for  by  this  means  the  lawgiver 
will  appear  to  be  good,  and  parents  happy,  while  they  never 
behold  either  a  son  or  a  daughter  brought  to  punishment. 
But  if  it  happen  that  these  words,  and  instructions  conveyed 
by  them  in  order  to  reclaim  the  man,  appear  to  be  useless, 
then  the  offender  renders  the  laws  implacable  enemies  to  the 
insolence  he  has  offered  his  parents;  let  him,  therefore,  be  * 
brought  forth,  by  these  very  parents,  out  of  the  city,  with 
a  multitude  following  him,  and  let  him  be  stoned  ;  and  when 
lie  has  continued  there  for  one  whole  day,  that  all  the  people 
may  see  him,  let  him  be  buried  in  the  night.  And  thus  it  is 
that  we  bury  all  whom  the  laws  condemn  to  die,  upon  any  ac¬ 
count  whatsoever.  Let  our  enemies  that  fall  in  battle  be 
also  buried  ;  nor  let  any  one  dead  body  lie  above  ground,  or 
suffer  a  punishment  beyond  what  justice  requires. 

25.  Let  no  one  lend  to  any  one  of  the  Hebrews  upon  usu¬ 
ry,  neither  usury  of  what  is  eaten,  or  what  is  drunken,  for  it 
is  not  just  to  make  advantage  of  the  misfortunes  of  one  of  thy 
own  countrymen  ;  but  when  thou  hast  been  assistant  to  his 
necessities,  think  it  thy  gain,  if  thou  obtainest  their  gratitude 
to  thee  ;  and  withal  that  reward  which  will  come  to  thee  from 
God,  for  thy  humanity  towards  him. 

26.  Those  who  have  borrowed  either  silver,  or  any  sort 
of  fruits,  whether  dry  or  wet,  I  mean  this,  when  the  Jewish 
affairs,  shall  by  the  blessing  of  God,  be  to  their  own  mind,  let 
the  borrowers  bring  them  again,  and  restore  them  with  plea- 

*  See  Herod  the  Great,  insisting  on  the  eKecution  of  this  law,  with  re¬ 
lation  to  two  of  his  own  sons,  before  the  judges  at  Berytus,  Antiq.  B. 
Kvi,  ch.  xi.  §  2.  vol.  iii. 


280  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  IK 

sure  to  those  who  lent  them,  laying  them  up,  as  it  were,  in 
their  own  treasuries,  and  justly  expecting  to  receive  them 
thence,  if  they  shall  want  them  again.  But  if  they  be  with¬ 
out  shame,  and  do  not  restore  it,  let  not  the  lender  go  to  the 
borrower’s  house,  and  take  a  pledge  himself,  before  judgment 
be  given  concerning  it,  but  let  him  require  the  pledge,  and 
let  the  debtor  bring  it  of  himself,  without  the  least  opposition, 
to  him  that  comes  upon  him  under  the  protection  of  the  law. 
And  if  he  that  gave  the  pledge  be  rich,  let  the  creditor  retain 
it  till  what  he  lent  be  paid  him  again  ;  but  if  he  be  poor,  let 
him  that  takes  it  return  it  before  the  going  down  of  the  sun, 
especially  if  the  pledge  be  a  garment,  that  the  debtor  may 
have  it  for  a  covering  in  his  sleep,  God  himself  naturally 
showing  mercy  to  the  poor.  It  is  also  not  lawful  to  take  a 
millstone,  or  any  utensil  thereto  belonging,  for  a  pledge, 
that  the  debtors  may  not  be  deprived  of  instruments  to  get 
their  food  withal,  and  lest  they  be  undone  by  their  necessity. 

27.  Let  death  be  the  punishment  for  stealing  a  man ;  but 
he  that  hath  purloined  gold  or  silver,  let  him  pay  double. 
If  any  one  kill  a  man  that  is  stealing  something  out  of  his 
house,  let  him  be  esteemed  guiltless,  although  the  man  were 
only  breaking  in  at  the  wall.  Let  him  that  hath  stolen  cattle 
pay  four-fold  what  is  lost,  excepting  the  case  of  an  ox,  for 
which  let  the  thief  pay  five-fold.  Let  him  that  is  so  poor 
that  he  cannot  pay  what  mulct  is  laid  upon  him,  be  his  ser¬ 
vant  to  whom  he  was  adjudged  to  pay  it. 

28.  If  any  one  be  sold  to  one  of  his  own  nation,  let  him 
serve  him  six  years,  and  on  the  seventh  let  him  go  free  ;  but 
if  he  have  a  son  by  a  woman-servant,  in  his  purchaser’s  house, 
and  if  on  account  of  his  good-will  to  his  master,  and  his  na¬ 
tural  affection  to  his  wife  and  children,  he  will  be  his  servant 
still,  let  him  be  set  free  only  at  the  coming  of  the  year  of  Ju¬ 
bilee,  which  is  the  fiftieth  year,  and  let  him  then  take  away 
with  him  his  children  and  wife,  and  let  them  be  free  also. 

29.  If  any  one  find  gold  or  silver  on  the  road,  let  him  in¬ 
quire  after  him  that  lost  it,  and  make  proclamation  of  the 
place  where  he  found  it,  and  then  restore  it  to  him  again,  as 
not  thinking  it  right  to  make  his  own  profit  by  the  loss  of  an¬ 
other.  And  the  same  rule  is  to  be  observed  in  cattle  found 
to  have  wandered  away  into  a  lonely  place.  If  the  owner 
be  not  presently  discovered,  let  him  that  is  finder  keep  it 
with  himself,  and  appeal  to  God,  that  he  has  not  purloined 
what  belongs  to  another. 

30.  It  is  not  lawful  to  pass  by  any  beast  that  is  in  distress, 
when  in  a  storm  it  is  fallen  doum  in  the  mire,  but  to  endea¬ 
vour  to  preserve  it,  as  having  a  sympathy  with  it  in  its  pain, 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


281 


Chap.  VIII. 

31.  It  is  also  a  duty  to  show  the  roads  to  those  who  do  not 
know  them,  and  not  to  esteem  it  a  matter  for  sport,  when  we 
hinder  other  advantages,  by  setting  them  in  a  wrong  way. 

32.  In  like  manner  let  no  one  revile  a  person  blind  or  dumb. 

33.  If  men  strive  together,  and  there  be  no  instrument  of 
iron,  let  him  that  is  smitten  be  avenged  immediately,  by  in¬ 
flicting  the  same  punishment  on  him  that  smote  him  :  but  if 
when  he  is  carried  home,  he  lie  sick  many  days,  and  then  die, 
let  him  that  smote  him  escape  punishment;  but  if  he  that 
is  smitten  escape  death,  and  yet  be  at  great  expense  for  his 
cure,  the  smiter  shall  pay  for  all  that  has  been  expended  dur¬ 
ing  the  time  of  his  sickness,  and  for  all  that  he  has  paid  the 
physician.  He  that  kicks  a  woman  with  child,  so  that,  the 
woman  *  miscarry,  let  him  pay  a  fine  in  money  as  the  judges 
shall  determine,  as  having  diminished  the  multitfide  by  the 
destruction  of  what  was  in  her  womb;  and  let  money  also  be 
given  the  woman’s  husband  by  him  that  kicked  her;  but  if 
she* die  of  the  stroke  let  him  also  be  put  to  death,  the  law 
judging  it  equitable  that  life  should  go  for  life. 

34.  Let  no  one  of  the  Israelites  keep  any  t  poison  that  may 
cause  death  or  any  other  harm  ;  but  if  he  be  caught  with  it, 
let  him  be  put  to  death,  and  suffer  the  very  same  mischief 
that  he  would  have  brought  upon  them  for  whom  the  poison 
was  prepared. 

35.  He  that  maimeth  any  one,  let  him  undergo  the  like 
himself,  and  be  deprived  of  the  same  member  of  which  he 
had  deprived  the  other,  i  unless  he  that  is  maimed  will  ac¬ 
cept  of  money  instead  of  it ;  for  the  law  makes  the  sufferer 
the  judge  of  the  value  of  what  he  hath  suffered,  and  permits 
him  to  estimate,  unless  he  will  be  more  severe. 

36.  Let  him  that  is  the  owner  of  any  ox  which  pusheth 
with  his  horn  kill  him  :  but  if  he  pushes  and  gores  any  one 

*  Philo  and  others  appear  to  have  understood  this  law,  Exod  xxi. 
22,  23,  better  than  Josephus;  who  seems  to  allow,  that  though  'lie  in¬ 
fant  in  the  mother’s  womb,,  even  afterthe  mother  were  quick,  and  so  the 
infant  had  a  rational  soul,  were  killed  by  the  stroke  upon  the  mother, 
yet,  if  the  mother  escaped,  the  offender  should  only  be  fined,  and  not 
put  to  death  ;  while  the  law  seems  rather  to  mean,  that  if  the  infant 
in  that  case  be  killed,  though  the  mother  escape,  the  offender  must  be 
put  to  death,  and  not  only  when  the  mother  is  killed,  as  Josephus  under¬ 
stood  it.  It  seems  this  was  the  exposition  of  the  Pharisees  in  the  days  of 
Josephus. 

t  What  we  render  a  witch,  according  to  our  modern  notions  of  witch-'- 
craft,  Exod.  xxii.  IS,  Philo  and  Josephus  understood  of  a  poisoner,  or 
one  who  attempted,  by  secret  and  unlawful  drugs  or  pliiltra,  to  take 
away  the  senses  or  the  lives  of  men. 

f  This  permission  of  redeeming  this  penalty  with  money  is  not  in  oust 
copies.  Exod.  xxi.  24,  25.  Levit.  xxiv.  20.  Deut.  xix.  21. 

A  a  2 


282 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  IV. 


in  the  threshing  floor,  let  him  be  pul  to  death  by  stoning,  and 
let  him  not  be  thought  fit  for  food  :  but  if  his  owner  be  con¬ 
victed  as  having  known  what  his  nature  was,  and  hath  not 
kept  him  up,  let  him  also  be  put  to  death,  as  being  the  oc¬ 
casion  of  the  ox’s  having  killed  a  man.  But  if  the  ox  have 
killed  a  man-servant,  or  a  maid-servant,  let  him  be  stoned  ; 
and  let  the  owner  of  the  ox  #pay  thirty  shekels  to  the  mas¬ 
ter  of  him  that  was  slain  :  but  if  it  be  an  ox  that  is  thus  smit¬ 
ten  and  killed,  let  both  the  oxen,  that  which  smote  the  other, 
and  that  which  was  killed,  be  sold,  and  let  the  owners  of  them 
divide  their  price  between  them. 

37.  Let  those  that  dig  a  well  or  a  pit  be  careful  to  lay 
planks  over  them,  and  so  keep  them  shut  up,  not  in  order  to 
hinder  any  persons  from  drawing  water,  but  that  there  may 
be  no  danger  of  falling  into  them  :  but  if  any  one’s  beast  fall 
into  such  a  well  or  pit,  thus  digged,  and  not  shut  up,  and 
perish,  let  the  owner  pay  its  price  to  the  owner  of  the  beast. 
Let  there  be  a  battlement  round  the  tops  of  your  houses  in¬ 
stead  of  a  wall,  that  may  prevent  any  persons  from  rolling- 
down  and  perishing. 

38.  Let  him  that  has  received  any  thing  in  trust  for  ano¬ 
ther,  take  care  to  keep  it  as  a  sacred  and  divine  thing;  and 
let  no  one  invent  any  contrivance  whereby  to  deprive  him 
that  hath  intrusted  it  with  him  of  the  same,  and  this  whether 
a  man  or  a  woman,  no,  not  although  he  or  she  were  to  gain 
an  immense  sum  of  gold,  and  this  where  he  cannot  be  con¬ 
victed  of  it  by  any  body,  for  it  is  fit  that  a  man’s  own  con¬ 
science,  which  knows  what  he  hath,  should  in  all  cases  oblige 
him  to  do  well.  Let  this  conscience  be  his  witness,  and 
make  him  always  act  so  as  he  may  procure  commendation 
from  others ;  but  let  him  chiefly  have  regard  to  God,  from 
whom  no  wficked  man  can  lie  concealed  :  but  if  he  in  whom 
the  trust  was  reposed,  without  any  deceit  of  his  own,  lose 
what  he  was  intrusted  withal,  let  him  come  before  the  seven 
judges,  and  swear  by  God,  that  nothing  has  been  lost  wil¬ 
lingly,  or  with  a  wicked  intention,  and  that  he  hath  not  made 
use  of  any  part  thereof,  and  so  let  him  depart  without  blame  ; 
but  if  he  hath  made  use  of  the  least  part  of  what  was  com¬ 
mitted  to  him,  and  it  be  lost,  let  him  be  condemned  to  repay 
all  that  he  had  received,  after  the  same  manner  as  in  these 
trusts  it  is  to  be,  if  any  one  defraud  those  that  undergo  bodily’ 
labour  for  him.  And  let  it  be  always  remembered,  that  we 
are  not  to  defraud  a  poor  man  of  his  wages,  as  being  sensible 

*  We  may  here  note,  that  30  shekels,  the  price  our  Saviour  wras  sold 
for  by  Judas  to  the  Jews,  Matt.  xxvi.  15.  xxvii.  3,  was  the  old  value  of 
a  bought  servant,  or  slave,  among  that  people. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


283 


Chap.  VIII. 

that  God  has  allotted  that  wages  to  him  instead  of  land,  and 
other  possessions  ;  nay,  this  payment  is  not  at  all  to  be  delay¬ 
ed,  but  to  be  made  that  very  day,  since  God  is  not  willing  to 
deprive  the  labourer  of  the  immediate  use  of  what  he  hath 
laboured  for. 

39.  You  are  not  to  punish  children  for  the  faults  of  their 
parents,  but  on  account  of  their  own  virtue  rather  to  vouch¬ 
safe  them  commiseration,  because  they  were  born  of  wicked 
parents,  than  hatred,  because  they  were  born  of  bad  ones  : 
nor  indeed  ought  we  to  impute  the  sin  of  children  to  their  fa¬ 
thers,  while  young  persons  indulge  themselves  in  many  prac¬ 
tices  different  from  what  they  have  been  instructed  in,  this 
by  their  proud  refusal  of  such  instruction. 

40.  Let  those  that  have  made  themselves  eunuchs  be  had 
in  detestation  :  and  do  you  avoid  any  conversation  with  them, 
who  have  deprived  themselves  of  their  manhood,  and  of  that 
fruit  of  generation  which  God  has  given  men  for  the  increase 
of  their  kind  :  let  such  be  driven  away,  as  if  they  had  killed 
their  children,  since  they  beforehand  have  lost  what  should 
procure  them-;  for  evident  it  is,  that  while  their  soul  is  be¬ 
come  effeminate,  they  have  withal  transfused  that  effeminacy 
to  their  body  also.  In  like  manner  do  you  treat  all  that  is  of 
a  monstrous  nature  when  it  is  looked  on  ;  nor  is  it  lawful  to 
*geld  either  men,  or  any  other  animals. 

41.  Let  this  be  the  constitution  of  your  political  laws  in 
time  of  peace  ;  and  God  will  be  so  merciful  as  to  preserve 
this  excellent  settlement  free  from  disturbance  :  and  may  that 
time  never  come  which  may  innovate  any  thing,  and  change 
it  for  the  contrary.  But  since  it  must  needs  happen  that 
mankind  fall  into  troubles  and  dangers,  either  undesignedly, 
or  intentionally,  come  let  us  make  a  few  constitutions  con¬ 
cerning  them,  that  so  being  apprised  before  hand  what  ought 
to  be  done,  you  may  have  salutary  counsels  ready  when  you 
want  them,  and  may  not  then  be  obliged  to  go  to  seek  what 
is  to  be  done,  and  so  be  unprovided,  and  fall  into  dangerous 
circumstances.  May  you  be  a  laborious  people,  and  exer¬ 
cise  your  souls  in  virtuous  actions,  and  thereby  possess  and 
inherit  the  land  without  wars,  while  neither  any  foreigners 
make  war  upon  it,  and  so  afflict  you,  nor  any  internal  sedi¬ 
tion  sieze  upon  it,  whereby  you  do  things  that  are  contrary  to 
your  fathers,  and  so  lose  the  laws  which  they  have  establish- 

*  This  law  against  castration,  even  of  brutes,  is  said  to  be  so  rigorous 
elsewhere,  as  to  inflict  death  on  him  that  does  it,  which  seems  only  a 
Pharisaical  interpretation  in  the  days  of  Josephus  of  that  law,  Levit 
xxi.  20,  and  xxii.  24,  only  we  may  hence  observe,  that  the  Jews  could 
then  have  no  oxen  which  are  gelt,  but  only  bulls  and  cows,  in  Judea 


284 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  IV. 


ed.  And  may  you  continue  in  the  observation  of  those  laws 
which  God  hath  approved  of,  and  hath  delivered  to  you. 
Let  all  sort  of  warlike  operations,  whether  they  befall  you  now 
in  your  own  time,  or  hereafter  in  the  times  of  your  posterity, 
be  done  out  of  your  own  borders  :  but  when  you  are  about 
to  go  to  war,  send  embassages  and  heralds  to  those  who  are 
your  voluntary  enemies,  for  it  is  a  right  thing  to  make  use  of 
words  to  them  before  you  come  to  your  weapons  of  war ; 
and  assure  them  thereby,  that  although  you  have  a  numerous 
army,  with  horses,  and  weapons,  and  above  these,  a  God 
merciful  to  you,  and  ready  to  assist  you,  you  do,  however, 
desire  them  not  to  compel  you  to  fight  against  them,  nor  to 
take  from  them  what  they  have,  which  will  indeed  be  our  gain, 
but  what  they  will  have  no  reason  to  wish  we  should  take  to 
ourselves.  And  if  they  hearken  to  you,  it  will  be  proper  for 
you  to  keep  peace  with  them  ;  but  if  they  trust  on  their  own 
strength,  as  superior  to  yours,  and  will  not  do  you  justice, 
lead  your  army  against  them,  making  use  of  God  as  your  su¬ 
preme  commander,  but  ordaining  for  a  lieutenant  under 
him,  one  that  is  of  the  greatest  courage  among  you  ;  for  these 
different  commanders,  besides  their  being  an  obstacle  to  ac¬ 
tions  that  are  to  be  done  on  the  sudden,  are  a  disadvantage  to 
those  that  make  use  of  them.  Lead  an  army,  pure,  and  of 
chosen  men,  composed  of  all  such  as  have  extraordinary 
strength  of  body,  and  hardiness  of  soul ;  but  do  you  send  away 
the  timorous  part,  lest  they  run  away  in  the  time  of  action, 
and  so  afford  an  advantage  to  your  enemies.  Do  you  also 
give  leave  to  those  that  have  lately  built  them  houses,  and 
have  not  yet  lived  in  them  a  year’s  time  ;  and  to  those  that 
have  planted  them  vineyards,  and  have  not  yet  been  partak¬ 
ers  of  their  fruits,  to  continue  in  their  own  country  ;  as  well 
as  those  also  who  have  betrothed  or  lately  married  them  wives, 
lest  they  have  such  an  affection  for  these  things,  that  they  be 
too  sparing  of  their  lives,  and  by  reserving  themselves  for 
these  enjoyments,  they  become  voluntary  cowards,  [on  ac¬ 
count  of  their  wives.] 

42.  When  you  have  pitched  your  camp,  take  care  that 
you  do  nothing  that  is  cruel.  And  when  you  are  engaged  in 
a  siege,  and  want  timber  for  the  making  of  warlike  engines, 
do  not  you  render  the  land  naked  by  cutting  down  trees  that 
bear,  fruits,  but  spare  them,  as  considering  thart  they  were 
made  for  the  benefit  of  men  ;  and  that  if  they  could  speak, 
they  would  have  a  just  plea  against  you,  because,  though  they 
are  not  occasions  of  the  war,  they  are  unjustly  treated,  and 
suffer  in  it,  and  would,  if  they  were  able,  remove  themselves 
into  another  land.  When  you  have  beaten  your  enemies  in 


OF  TIIE  JEWS. 


283 


Chap.  VIII. 

battle,  slay  those  that  have  fought  against  you  ;  but  preserve 
the  others  alive,  that  they  may  pay  you  tribute,  excepting  the 
nation  of  the  Canaanites,  for  as  to  that  people  you  must  en¬ 
tirely  destroy  them. 

43.  Take  care  especially  in  your  battles,  that  no  woman 
use  the  habit  of  a  man,  nor  man  the  garment  of  a  woman. 

44.  This  was  the  form  of  political  government  which  was 
left  us  by  Moses.  Moreover  he  had  ^already  delivered  laws 
in  writing,  in  the  fortieth  year  [after  they  came  out  of  Egypt;] 
concerning  which  we  will  discourse  in  another  book.  But 
now,  on  the  following  days,  (for  he  called  them  to  assemble 
continually,)  he  delivered  blessings  to  them,  and  curses  upon 
those  that  should  not  live  according  to  the  laws,  but  should 
transgress  the  duties  that  were  determined  for  them  to 
observe.  After  this,  he  read  to  them  a  poetic  song,  which 
was  composed  in  hexameter  verse  ;  and  left  it  to  them  in  the 
holy  book  :  it  contained  a  prediction  of  what  was  to  come  to 
pass  afterward.  Agreeably  whereto  all  things  have  happen¬ 
ed  all  along,  and  do  still  happen  to  us  ;  and  wherein  he  has 
not  at  all  deviated  from  the  truth.  Accordingly,  he  delivered 
these  books  to  the  priests,  with  the  ark  ;  into  which  he  also 
put  the  ten  commandments,  written  in  two  tables  He  de¬ 
livered  to  them  the  tabernacle  also  ;  and  exhorted  the  peo¬ 
ple,  that  when  they  had  conquered  the  land,  and  were  set¬ 
tled  in  it,  they  should  not  forget  the  injuries  of  the  Amalak- 
ites,  but  make  war  against  them,  and  inflict  punishment  upon 
them  for  what  mischief  they  did  them  when  they  were  in  the 
wilderness  :  and  that  when  they  had  got  possession  of  the 
land  of  the  Canaanites,  and  when  they  had  destroyed  the 
whole  multitude  of  its  inhabitants,  as  they  ought  to  do,  they 
should  erect  an  altar  that  should  face  the  rising  sun,  not  far 
from  the  city  of  Shechem,  between  the  two  mountains,  that 
of  Gerizim,  situate  on  the  right  hand,  and  that  called  Ebal, 
on  the  left  ;  and  that  the  army  should  be  so  divided,  that  six 
tribes  should  stand  upon  each  of  the  two  mountains,  and  with 
them  the  Levites,  and  the  priests.  And  that  first,  those  that 
were  upon  mount  Gerizim  should  pray  for  the  best  blessing 
upon  those  who  were  diligent  about  the  worship  of  God,  and 
the  observation  of  his  laws,  and  who  did  not  reject  what  Mo¬ 
ses  had  said  to  them  ;  while  the  other  wished  them  all  man¬ 
ner  of  happiness  also  :  and  when  these  last  put  up  the  like 
prayers,  the  former  praised  them.  After  this,  curses  were 
denounced  upon  those  that  should  transgress  those  laws,  they 

*  These  laws  seem  to  be  those  abovementioned,  §  4,  of  this  chapter 

t  What  laws  were  now  delivered  to  the  priests,  see  the  note  on  Atv* 
tiq.  B.  iii.  cb.  i.  §'7, 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  IV. 


:28  G 


answering  one  another  alternately,  by  way  of  confirmation  of 
what  had  been  said.  Moses  also  wrote  their  blessings,  and 
their  curses,  that  they  might  learn  them  so  thoroughly,  that 
they  might  never  be  forgotten  by  length  of  time.  And  when 
he  was  ready  to  die,  he  wrote  these  blessings  and  curses*  up¬ 
on  the  altar  on  each  side  of  it ;  where  he  says  also  the  peo¬ 
ple  stood,  and  then  sacrificed,  and  offered  burnt-offerings, 
though  after  that  day  they  never  offered  upon  it  any  other  sa¬ 
crifice,  for  it  was  not  lawful  so  to  do.  These  are  the  consti¬ 
tutions  of  Moses  ;  and  the  Hebrew  nation  still  live  according 
to  them. 

45.  On  the  next  day,  Moses  called  the  people  together, 
with  the  women  and  children,  to  a  congregation,  so  as  the 
very  slaves  were  present  also,  that  they  might  engage  them¬ 
selves  to  the  observation  of  these  laws  by  oath  :  and  that  duly 
considering  the  meaning  of  God  in  them,  they  m  ght  not,  ei¬ 
ther  for  favour  of  their  kindred,  or  out  of  fear  of  any  one,  or 
indeed  for  any  motive  whatsoever,  think  anything  ought  to 
be  preferred  to  these  laws  and  so  might  transgress  them. 
That  in  case  any  one  of  their  own  blood,  or  any  city,  should 
attempt  to  confound  or  dissolve  their  constitution  of  govern¬ 
ment,  they  should  take  vengeance  upon  them,  both  all  in  ge¬ 
neral,  and  each  person  in  particular  ;  and  when  they  had 
conquered  them,  should  overturn  their  city  to  the  very  founda 
lions,  and  if  possible,  should  not  leave  the  least  footsteps  of 
such  madness :  but  that  if  they  were  not  able  to  take  such 
vengeance,  they  should  still  demonstrate,  that  what  wras  done 
was  contrary  to  their  wills.  So  the  multitude  bound  them¬ 
selves  by  oath  so  to  do. 

46.  Moses  taught  them  also  by  what  means  their  sacri¬ 
fices  might  be  the  most  acceptable  to  God ;  and  how  they 
should  go  forth  to  war,  making  use  of  fthe  stones  [in  the 
high-priest’s  breast-plate]  for  their  direction,  as  I  have  before 
signified.  Joshua  also  prophecied  while  Moses  was  present. 
And  when  Moses  had  recapitulated  whatsoever  he  had  done 
for  the  preservation  of  the  people,  both  in  their  wars,  and  in 

*  Of  the  exact  place  were  this  altar  was  to  be  built,  whether  nearer 
mount  Gerizim  or  mount  Ebal,  according  to  Josephus,  see  Essay  on  the 
Old  Testament,  p.  168 — 171. 

t  Dr.  Bernard  well  observes  here,  how  unfortunate  this  neglect  of 
consulting  the  Uruh  was  to  Joshua  himself,  in  the  case  of  the  Gibeon- 
ites,  who  put  a  trick  upon  him,  and  ensnared  him,  together  with  the 
rest  of  the  Jewish  rulers,  with  a  solemn  oath  to  preserve  them,  contrary 
to  his  commission  to  extirpate  all  the  Canaanites  root  and  branch  ;  which 
oath  he  and  the  other  rulers  never  durst  break.  See  Scripture  Politics, 
j>.  55,  56,  and  this  snare  they  were  brought  into,  because  they  did  not 
ask  counsel  at  the  mouth  of  the  Lord.  Joshua  is.  14, 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


m 


peace,  and  had  composed  them  a  body  of  laws,  and  procured 
them  an  excellent  form  of  government,  he  foretold,  as  God 
had  declared  to  him,  that  “  if  they  transgressed  that  institu* 
tion  for  the  worship  of  God,  they  should  experience  the  fol¬ 
lowing  miseries  :  their  land  should  be  full  of  weapons  of  war 
from  their  enemies,  and  their  cities  should  be  overthrown,  and 
their  temple  should  be  burnt ;  that  they  should  be  sold  for 
slaves  to  such  men  as  would  have  no  pity  on  them  in  their  af¬ 
flictions;  that  they  would  then  repent,  when  that  repentance 
would  no  way  profit  them  under  their  sufferings.  Yet,  said 
lie,  will  that  God  who  founded  your  nation,  restore  your  cities 
to  your  citizens,  with  their  temple  also  ;  and  you  shall  lose 
these  advantages  not  once  only,  but  often.” 

4 7.  Now  when  Moses  had  encouraged  Joshua  to  lead  out 
the  army  against  the  Canaanites,by  telling  him  that  God  would 
assist  him  in  all  his  undertakings,  and  had  blessed  the  whole 
multitude,  he  said,  “  Since  I  am  going  to  my  forefathers,  and 
God  has  determined  that  this  should  be  the  day  of  my  depar¬ 
ture  to  them,  I  return  him  thanks  while  I  am  still  alive,  and 
present  with  you,  for  that  providence  he  hath  exercised  over 
you,  which  hath  not  only  delivered  us  from  the  miseries  we 
lay  under,  but  hath  bestowed  a  state  of  prosperity  upon  us  ; 
as  also,  that  he  hath  assisted  me  in  the  pains  1  took,  and  in  all 
the  contrivances  I  had  in  my  care  about  you,  in  order  to  bet¬ 
ter  your  condition,  and  hath  on  all  occasions  showed  himself 
favourable  to  us  ;  or  rather  he  it  was  who  first  conducted  our 
affairs,  and  brought  them  to  an  happy  conclusion,  by  making 
use  of  me  as  a  vicarious  general  under  him,  and  as  a  minister 
in  those  matters  wherein  he  was  willing  to  do  you  good  :  on 
which  account  I  think  it  proper  to  bless  that  divine  power 
which  will  take  cave  of  you  for  the  time  to  come,  and  this  in 
order  to  repay  that  debt  which  I  owe  him,  and  to  leave  be¬ 
hind  me  a  memorial  that  we  are  obliged  to  worship  and  hon¬ 
our  him,  and  keep  to  those  laws  which  are  the  most  excellent 
gift  of  all  those  he  hath  already  bestowed  upon  us,  or  which, 
if  he  continue  favourable  to  us,  he  will  bestow  upon  us  hereaf¬ 
ter.  Certainly,  an  human  legislator  is  a  terrible  enemy,  when 
his  laws  are  affronted,  and  are  made  to  no  purpose.  And 
may  you  never  experience  that  displeasure  of  God,  which  will 
be  the  consequence  of  the  neglect  of  these  his  laws,  which  he 
who  is  your  Creator,  hath  given  you.” 

48.  When  Moses  had  said  thus,  at  the  end  of  his  life,  and 
had  foretold  what  w'ould  befall  to  *every  one  of  their  tribes 


*  Since  Josephus  assures  us  here,  as  is  most  naturally  to  be  supposed, 
srmi  as  the  Septuagiut  gives  the  text,  Deut.  xxxiii  6,  that  Moses  blessed 


288 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  IV. 


afterward,  with  the  addition  of  a  blessing  to  them,  the  multi¬ 
tude  fell  into  tears,  insomuch,  that  even  the  women,  by  beat¬ 
ing  their  breasts,  made  manifest  the  deep  concern  they  had 
when  he  was  about  to  die.  The  children  also  lamented  still 
more,  as  not  able  to  contain  their  grief ;  and  thereby  declar¬ 
ed,  that  even  at  their  age  they  were  sensible  of  his  virtue, 
and  mighty  deeds  :  and  truly  there  seemed  to  be  a  strife  be¬ 
tween  the  young  and  the  old,  who  should  most  grieve  for  him. 
The  old  grieved,  because  they  knew  what  a  careful  protec¬ 
tor  they  were  to  be  deprived  of,  and  so  lamented  their  future 
state  ;  but  the  young  grieved,  not  only  for  that,  but  also  be¬ 
cause  it  so  happened  that  they  were  to  be  left  by  him  before 
they  had  well  tasted  of  his  virtue.  Now  one  may  make  a 
guess .  at  the  excess  of  this  sorrow  and  lamentation  of  the 
multitude,  from  what  happened  to  the  legislator  himself ;  for 
although  he  was  always  persuaded  that  he  ought  not  to  be 
cast  down  at  the  approach  of  death,  since  the  undergoing  it 
was  agreeable  to  the  will  of  God,  and  the  law  of  nature,  yet 
what  the  people  did,  so  overbore  him,  that  he  wept  himself. 
Now  as  he  went  thence  to  the  place  where  he  was  to  vanish 
out  of  their  sight,  they  all  followed  after  him  weeping;  but 
Moses  beckoned  with  his  hand  to  those  that  were  remote  from 
him,  and  bid  them  stay  behind  in  quiet,  while  he  exhorted 
those  that  were  nearer  him  that  they  would  not  render  his  de¬ 
parture  so  lamentable  :  whereupon  they  thought  they  ought 
to  grant  him  that  favour,  to  let  him  depart  according  as  lie 
himself  desired,  so  they  restrained  themselves,  though  weep¬ 
ing  still  towards  one  another.  All  those  who  accompanied 
him,  were  the  senate,  and  Eleazer  the  high-priest,  and  Joshua 
their  commander.  Now  as  soon  as  they  were  come  to  the 
mountain  called  Aharim ,  (which  is  a  very  high  mountain, 
situate  over  against  Jericho,  and  one  that  affords  to  such  as 
are  upon  it  a  prospect  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  excellent 
land  of  Canaan,)  he  dismissed  the  senate;  and  as  he  was  go¬ 
ing  to  embrace  Eleazer  and  Joshua,  and  was  still  discoursing 
with  them,  a  cloud  stood  over  him  on  the  sudden,  and  he  dis* 
appeared  in  a  certain  valley,  although  he  wrote  in  the  holy 
books  that  he  died,  which  was  done  out  of  fear  lest  they 
should  venture  to  say,  that  because  of  his  extraordinary  vir¬ 
tue  he  went  to  God. 

49*  Now  Moses  lived  in  all  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  ; 
a  third  part  of  which  time,  abating  one  month,  he  was  the 
people’s  ruler:  and  he  died  on  the  last  month  of  the  y ear 

every  one  of  (he  tribes  of  Israel,  it  is  evident  that  Simeon  was  not  omitted 
in  his  copy,  as  it  unhappily  now  is  both  in  our  Hebrew  and  Samaritan 
copies. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


289 


Chap.  VIII. 

which  is  called  by  the  Macedonians  Dystrus ,  but  by  us  Adar , 
on  the  first  day  of  the  month.  He  was  one  that  exceeded  all 
men  that  ever  were  in  understanding,  and  made  the  best  use 
of  what  understanding  suggested  to  him.  He  had  a  very 
grateful  way  of  speaking,  and  addressing  himself  to  the  multi¬ 
tude  :  and  as  to  his  other  qualifications,  he  had  such  a  full 
command  of  his  passions,  as  if  he  hardly  had  any  such  in  his 
soul,  and  only  knew  them  by  their  names,  as  rather  perceiving 
them  in  other  men  than  in  himself.  He  was  also  such  a  gen¬ 
eral  of  an  army  as  was  seldom  seen,  as  well  as  such  a  proph¬ 
et  as  was  never  known,  and  this  to  such  a  degree,  that  what* 
soever  he  pronounced,  you  would  think  you  heard  the  voice 
of  God  himself.  So  the  people  mourned  for  him  thirty  days  : 
nor  did  ever  any  grief  so  deeply  affect  the  Hebrews  as  did  this 
upon  the  death  of  Moses  ;  nor  were  those  that  had  experienc¬ 
ed  his  conduct  the  only  persons  that  desired  him,  but  those  al¬ 
so  that  perused  the  laws  he  left  behind  him  had  a  strong  de¬ 
sire  after  him,  and  by  them  gathered  the  extraordinary  virtue 
he  was  master  of.  And  this  shall  suffice  for  the  declaration 
of  the  manner  of  the  death  of  Moses. 


yen:. 


i. 


Bb 


BOOK  V. 

CONTAINING  THE  INTERVAL  OF  476  YEARS 
[From  the  death  of  Moses  to  the  death  of  Eli.] 


CHAP.  I. 

How  Joshua ,  the  commander  of  the  Hebrews,  made  tear  with 
the  Canaanitcs,  and  overcame  them ,  and  destroyed  them, 
and  divided  their  land  by  lot  to  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

§  1.  When  Moses  was  taken  away  from  among  men,  in 
the  manner  already  described,  and  when  all  the  solemnities 
belonging  to  the  mourning  for  him  were  finished,  and  the  sor¬ 
row  for  him  was  over,  Joshua  commanded  the  multitude  to 
get  themselves  ready  for  an  expedition.  He  also  sent  spies  to 
Jericho,  to  discover  what  forces  they  had,  and  wheft  were  their 
intentions,  but  he  put  his  camp  in  order,  as  intending  soon  to 
.pass  over  Jordan  at  a  proper  Season.  And  calling  to  him  the 
rulers  of  the  tribe  of  Reubel,  and  the  governors  of  the  tribe  of 
Gad,  and  [the  half  tribe  of]  Manasseh,  for  half  of  this  tribe 
had  been  permitted  to  have  their  habitation  in  the  country  of 
the  Amorites,  which  was  the  ^seventh  part  of  the  land  of  Ca¬ 
naan,  he  put  them  in  mind  what  they  had  promised  Moses  ; 
and  he  exhorted  them,  that  for  the  sake  of  the  care  that  Moses 


*  The  Amorites  were  one  of  the  seven  nations  of  Canaan  ;  hence  Re¬ 
land  is  willing  to  suppose,  that  Josephus  did  not  here  mean  that  their 
land  beyond  Jordan  was  a  seventh  part  of  the  whole  land  of  Canaan, 
but  meant  the  Amorites  as  a  seventh  nation.  His  reason  is,  that  Jose¬ 
phus,  as  well  as  our  Bible,  generally  distinguish  the  land  beyond  Jordan 
from  the  land  of  Canaan  :  nor  can  it  be  denied  that  in  strictness  they 
were  different  ;  yet  after  two  tribes  and  a  half  of  the  twelve  tribes 
came  to  inherit  it,  it  might,  in  a  general  way  altogether,  be  well  includ¬ 
ed  under  the  land  of  Canaan,  or  Palestine,  or  Judea:  of  which  we  have 
a  clear  example  here,  as  before,  in  Josephus,  whose  wrords  evidently  im¬ 
ply,  that  taking  the  whole  land  of  Canaan,  or  that  inhabited  by  all  the 
twelve  tribes  together,  and  putting  it  into  seven  parts,  the  part  beyond 
Jordan  was  in  quantity  of  ground  one  seventh  part  of  the  whole.  And 
this  well  enough  agrees  to  Reland’s  own  map  of  that  country,  although 
this  kind  beyond  Jordan  was  so  particularly  fruitful,  and  good  for  pastu¬ 
rage,  as  the  two  tribes  and  an  half  took  notice,  Numb,  xxxii.  1,  4,  IS, 
that  it  maintained  about  a  fifth  part  of  the  whole  people. 


GF  THE  JEWS. 


291 


Chap.  I. 

had  taken  of  them,  who  had  never  been  weary  of  taking  pains 
for  them,  no,  not  when  he  was  dying,  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
public  welfare,  they  would  prepare  themselves,  and  readily 
perform  what  they  had  promised  :  so  he  took  fifty  thousand 
of  them,  who  followed  him,  and  he  marched  from  Abila  to  Jor¬ 
dan,  sixty  furlongs. 

2.  Now  when  he  had  pitched  his  camp,  the  spies  came  to 
him  immediately,  well  acquainted  with  the  whole  state  of  the 
Canaanites  :  for,  at  first,  before  they  were  at  all  discovered, 
they  took  a  full  view  of  the  city  Jericho  without  disturb¬ 
ance,  and  saw  which  parts  of  the  walls  were  strong,  and  which 
parts  were  otherwise,  and  indeed  insecure,  and  which  of  the 
gates  were  so  weak  as  might  afford  an  entrance- to  their  army. 
Now  those  that  met  them  took  no  notice  of  them  when  they 
saw  them,  and  supposed  they  were  only  strangers,  who  used 
to  be  very  curious  in  observing  every  thing  in  the  city,  and 
did  not  take  them  for  enemies ;  but  at  even  they  retired  to  a 
certain  inn  that  was  near  to  the  wall,  whither  they  went  to 
eat  their  supper;  which  supper  when  they  had  done,  and 
were  considering  how  to  get  away,  information  was  given  to 
the  king  as  he  w'as  at  supper,  that  there  were  some  persons 
come  from  the  Hebrews’  camp  to  view  the  city  as  spies,  and 
that  they  were  in  the  inn  kept  by  Rahab,  and  were  very  so¬ 
licitous  that  they  might  not  be  discovered,  so  he  sent  imme¬ 
diately  some  to  them,  and  commanded  to  catch  them,  and 
bring  them  to  him,-  that  he  might  examine  them  by  torture, 
and  learn  what  their  business  was  there.  As  soon  as  Rahab 
understood  that  these  messengers  were  coming,  she  hid  the 
spies  under  stalks  of  tlax,  which  were  laid  to  dry  on  the  top 
ot  her  house  ;  and  said  to  the  messengers  that  were  sent  by 
the  king,  that  certain  unknown  strangers  had  supped  with 
her  a  little  before  sun-setting,  and  were  gone  away,  who 
might  easily  be  taken,  if  they  were  any  terror  to  the  city,  or 
likely  to  bring  any  clanger  to  the  king  :  so  these  messengers 
being  thus  #deluded  by  the  woman,  and  suspecting  no  impo- 


*  It  plainly  appears  by  the  history  of  these  spies,  and  the  innkeeper 
Rahab’s  deception  of  the  king  of  Jericho’s  messengers,  by  telling  them 
what  was  false,  in  order  to  save  the  lives  of  the  spies,  and  yet  the  great 
commendation  of  her  faith  and  good  works  in  the  New  Testament,  Heb. 
xi.  31.  James  ii  25,  as  well  as  by  many  other  parallel  passages,  both  ill 
the  Old  Testament  and  in  Josephus,  that  the  best  men  did  not  then 
scruple  to  deceive  those  public  enemies,  who  might  justly  be  destroy¬ 
ed  ;  as  also  might  deceive  ill  men,  in  order  to  save  life,  and  deliver 
themselves  from  the  tyranny  of  their  unjust  oppressors,  and  this  by 
telling  direct  falsehoods ;  I  mean  all  this  where  no  oath  was  demanded 
of  them,  otherwise  they  never  durst  venture  on  such  a  procedure. 
Nor  was  Josephus  himself  of  any  other  opinion  or  practice,  as  I  shall 


Book  V, 


292  ANTIQUITIES 

sition,  went  their  ways,  without  so  much  as  searching  the 
inn,  but  they  immediately  pursued  them  along  those  roads 
which  they  most  probably  supposed  them  to  have  gone,  and 
those  particularly  which  led  to  the  river,  but  could  hear  no 
tidings  of  them  ;  so  they  left  off  the  pains  of  any  farther  pur¬ 
suit.  But  when  the  tumult  was  over,  Rahab  brought  the  men 
down,  and  desired  them,  as  soon  as  they  should  have  obtain¬ 
ed  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  when  it  would  be  in 
their  power  to  make  her  amends  for  her  preservation  of 
them,  to  remember  what  danger  she  had  undergone  for  their 
sakes;  for  that  if  she  had  been  caught  concealing  them,  she 
could  not  have  escaped  a  terrible  destruction,  she  and  all  her 
family  with  her,  and  so  bid  them  to  go  home  ;  and  desired 
them  to  swear  to  her,  to  preserve  her  and  her  family,  when 
they  should  take  the  city,  and  destroy  all  its  inhabitants,  as 
they  had  decreed  to  do,  for  so  far  she  said,  she  had  been  as¬ 
sured  by  those  divine  miracles,  of  which  she  had  been  in¬ 
formed.  So  these  spies  acknowledged  that  they  owed  her 
thanks  for  what  she  had  done  already,  and  withal  swore  to 
requite  her  kindness,  not  only  in  words,  but  in  deeds  :  but 
they  gave  her  this  advice,  that  when  she  should  perceive  that 
the  city  was  about  to  be  taken,  she  should  put  her  goods,  and 
all  her  family,  by  way  of  security,  in  her  inn,  and  to  hang 
out  scarlet  threads  before  her  doors,  [or  windows,]  that  the 
commander  of  the  Hebrews  might  know  her  house,  and  take 
care  to  do  her  no  harm  ;  for,  said  they,  we  will  inform  him 
of  this  matter,  because  of  the  concern  thou  hast  had  to  pre¬ 
serve  us  5  but  if  any  one  of  thy  family  fall  in  the  battle,  do- 
not  thou  blame  us  ;  and  we  beseech  that  God,  by  whom  we 
have  sworn,  not  then  to  be  displeased  with  us,  as  though  we 
had  broken  our  oaths.  So  these  men,  when  they  had  made 
this  agreement,  went  away,  letting  themselves  down  by  a  rope 
from  the  wall,  and  escaped,  and  came  and  told  their  own  peo¬ 
ple  whatsoever  they  had  done  in  their  journey  to  this  city. 
Joshua  also  told  Eleazer  the  high  priest,  and  the  senate,  what 
the  spies  had  sworn  to  Rahab,  who  confirmed  what  had  been 
sworn. 

3.  Now  while  Joshua,  the  commander,  was  in  fear  about 
their  passing  over  Jordan,  for  the  river  ran  with  a  strong  cur- 


remark  in  the  note  on  Antiq.  B  ix.  ch.  iv.  §  3.  vo!.  ii.  And  observe,  that 
l  still  call  this  woman  Rahab  an  innkeeper,  not  an  harlot,  the  whole  his¬ 
tory,  both  in  our  copies,  and  especially  in  Josephus,  implying  no  more. 
It  was  indeed  so  frequent  a  thing,  that  women  who  were  innkeepers 
were  also  harlots,  or  maintainers  of  harlots,  that  the  word  commonly 
used  for  real  harlots  was  usually  given  them.  See  Dr.  Bernard’s  note 
here,  and  Judges  xi.  1,  and  Antiq.  B.  v.  ch.  vii.  §  8. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


293 


Chap.  I. 

rent,  and  could  not  be  passed  over  with  bridges,  for  there 
never  had  been  bridges  laid  over  it  hitherto,  and  while  he  sus¬ 
pected,  that  if  he  should  attempt  to  make  a  bridge,  that  the 
enemies  would  not  alford  him  time  to  perfect  it,  and  for  ferry¬ 
boats  they  had  none,  God  promised  so  to  dispose  of  the  river 
that  they  might  pass  over  it,  and  that  by  taking  away  the 
main  part  of  its  waters.  So  Joshua,  after  two  days,  caused 
the  army  and  the  whole  multitude  to  pass  over  in  the  manner 
following  :  the  priests  went  first  of  all,  having  the  ark  with 
them,  then  went  the  Levites,  bearing  the  tabernacle,  and  the 
vessels  which  belonged  to  the  sacrifices,  after  which  the  entire 
multitude  followed  according  to  their  tribes,  having  their  chil¬ 
dren  and  their  wives  in  the  midst  of  them,  as  being  afraid  for 
them,  lest  they  should  be  borne  away  by  the  stream.  But  as 
soon  as  the  priests  had  entered  the  river  first,  it  appeared  for¬ 
dable,  the  depth  of  the  water  being  restrained,  and  the  sand 
appearing  at  the  bottom,  because  the  current  was  neither 
so  strong  nor  so  swift  as  to  carry  it  away  by  its  force,  so  they 
all  passed  over  the  river  without  fear,  finding  it  to  be  in  the 
very  same  state  as  God  had  foretold  he  would  put  it  in  ;  but 
the  priests  stood  still  in  the  midst  of  the  river  till  the  multi¬ 
tude  should  be  passed  over,  and  should  get  to  ^he  shore  in 
safety  ;  and  when  all  were  gone  over,  the  priests  came  out 
also,  and  permitted  the  current  to  run  freely  as  it  used  to  do 
before.  Accordingly,  the  river,  as  soon  as  the  Hebrews  were 
come  out  of  it,  arose  again  presently,  and  came  to  its  own  pro¬ 
per  magnitude  as  before. 

4.  So  the  Hebrews  went  on  farther  fifty  furlongs,  and  pitch¬ 
ed  their  camp  at  the  distance  of  ten  furlongs  from  Jericho  : 
but  Joshua  built  an  altar  of  those  stones,  which  all  the  heads 
of  the  tribes,  at  the  command  of  the  prophet,  had  taken  out 
of  the  deep,  to  be  afterwards  a  memorial  of  the  division  of 
the  stream  of  this  river,  and  upon  it  offered  sacrifice  to  God  ; 
and  in  that  place  celebrated  the  passover,  and  had  great  plen¬ 
ty  of  all  the  things  which  they  wanted  hitherto,  for  they 
reaped  the  corn  of  the  Canaanites,  which  was  now  ripe  and 
took  other  things  as  prey,  for  then  it  was  that  their  former 
food,  which  was  manna,  and  of  which  they  had  eaten  forty 
years,  failed  them. 

5.  Now  while  the  Israelites  did  this,  and  the  Canaanites 
did  not  attack  them,  but  kept  themselves  quiet  within  their 
own  walls,  Joshua  resolved  to  besiege  them  ;  so  on  the  first 
day  of  the  feast  [of  the  passover,]  the  priest  carried  the  ark, 
round  about  which  was  some  part  of  the  armed  men  to  be  a 
guard  to  it.  These  priests  went  forward,  blowing  with  their 


Bb  2 


294 


ANTIQUITIES 


Look  r. 


seven  trumpets  ;  and  exhorted  the  army  to  be  of  good  cour¬ 
age,  and  went  round  about  the  city,  with  the  senate  follow¬ 
ing  them  ;  and  when  the  priests  had  only  blown  with  the 
trumpets,  for  they  did  nothing  more  at  all,  they  returned  to 
the  camp.  And  when  they  had  done  this  for  six  days,  on 
the  seventh  Joshua  gathered  the  armed  men,  and  all  the  peo¬ 
ple  together,  and  told  them  this  good  tiding,  that  the  city 
should  now  be  taken,  since  God  would  on  that  day  give  it 
them,  by  the  falling  down  of  the  walls,  and  this  of  their  own 
accord,  and  without  their  labour.  However,  he  charged 
them  to  kill  every  one  they  should  take,  and  not  to  abstain 
from  the  slaughter  of  their  enemies,  either  for  weariness,  or 
for  pity,  and  not  to  fall  on  the  spoil,  and  be  thereby  divert¬ 
ed  from  pursuing  their  enemies  as  they  ran  away ;  but  to  de¬ 
stroy  all  the  animals,  and  to  take  nothing  for  their  own  pe¬ 
culiar  advantage.  He  commanded  them  also  to  bring  toge¬ 
ther  all  the  silver  and  gold,  that  it  might  be  set  apart  as  first 
fruits  unto  God  out  of  this  glorious  exploit,  as  having  gotten 
them  from  the  city4  they  first  took  ;  only  that  they  should  save 
Rahab,  and  her  kindred  alive,  because  of  the  oath  which  the 
spies  had  swmrn  to  her. 

6.  When  he  had  said  this,  and  had  set  his  army  in  order, 
he  brought  it  against  the  city  :  so  they  went  round  the  city 
again,  the  ark  going  before  them,  and  the  priests  encouraging 
the  people  to  be  zealous  in  the  work  ;  and  when  they  had 
gone  round  it  seven  times,  and  had  stood  still  a  little,  the  wall 
fell  down,  while  no  instruments  of  war,  nor  any  other  force, 
was  applied  to  it  by  the  Hebrews. 

7.  So  they  entered  into  Jericho,  and  slew  all  the  men  that 
were  therein,  while  they  were  affrighted  at  the  surprising  over¬ 
throw  of  the  walls,  and  their  courage  was  become  useless, 
and  they  were  not  able  to  defend  themselves  :  so  they  were 
slain,  and  their  throats  cut,  some  in  the  ways,  and  others  as 
caught  in  their  houses  ;  nothing  afforded  them  assistance,  but 
they  all  perished,  even  to  the  women  and  children,  and  the 
city  was  filled  with  dead  bodies,  and  not  one  person  escap¬ 
ed.  They  also  burnt  the  whole  city,  and  the  country  about 
it ;  but  they  saved  alive  Rahab,  with  her  family,  who  had  fled 
to  her  inn.  And  when  she  was  brought  to  him,  Joshua,  own¬ 
ed  to  her,  that  they  owed  her  thanks  for  the  preservation  of 
the  spies  :  so  he  said  he  would  not  appear  to  be  behind  her 
in  his  benefaction  to  her ;  whereupon  he  gave  her  certain 
lands  immediately,  and  had  her  in  great  esteem  ever  after¬ 
wards. 

8.  And  if  any  part  of  the  city  escaped  the  fire,  he  over- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  1. 


295 


threw  it  from  the  foundation  ;  and  he  denounced  a  #  curse 
against  its  inhabitants,  if  any  one  should  desire  to  rebuild  it, 
how  upon  his  laying  the  foundation  of  the  walls  he  should  be 
deprived  of  his  eldest  son,  and  upon  finishing  it,  he  should 
lose  his  youngest  son.  But  what  happened  hereupon,  we 
shall  speak  of  hereafter. 

9.  Now  there  was  an  immense  quantity  of  silver  and  gold, 
and  besides  those  of  brass  also,  that  was  heaped  together  out 
of  the  city  when  it  was  taken,  and  no  one  transgressing  the 
decree,  or  purloining  for  their  own  peculiar  advantage  :  which 
spoils  Joshua  delivered  to  the  priests,  to  be  laid  up  among 
their  treasures.  And  thus  did  Jericho  perish. 

10.  But  there  was  one  t  Achar,  the  son  [of  Charmi,  the 
son]  of  Zebedias  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  who,  finding  a  royal 
garment  woven  entirely  of  gold,  and  a  piece  of  gold  that 
weighed  | two  hundred  shekels,  and  thinking  it  a  very  hard 
case,  that  what  spoils  he,  by  running  some  hazard,  had  found, 
he  must  give  away,  and  offer  it  to  God  who  stood  in  no  need 
of  it,  while  he  that  wanted  it  must  go  without  it,  made  a  deep 
ditch  in  his  own  tent  and  laid  them  up  therein,  as  supposing 
he  should  not  only  be  concealed  from  his  fellow-soldiers,  but 
from  God  himself  also. 

11.  Now  the  place  where  Joshua  pitched  his  camp  was 


*  Upon  occasion  of  this  devoting  of  Jericho  to  destruction,  and  the  ex¬ 
emplary  punishment  of  Achar,  who  broke  that  rherem  or  anathema ,  and 
of  the  punishment  of  the  future  breaker  of  it,  Hiel,  1  Kings  xvi.  34,  as 
also  of  the  punishment  of  Saul  for  breaking  the  like  clierem  or  anathema 
against  the  Amalekites,  1  Sam.xv  We  may  observe  what  was  the  true 
meaning  of  that  law,  Levit.  xxvii.GS  ;  Kone  devoted ,  which  shall  be  de¬ 
voted  of  men,  shall  be  redeemed ;  but  shall  surely  be  put  to  death  ;  i.  e. 
whenever  any  of  the  Jews’  public  enemies  had  been,  for  their  wicked* 
ness,  solemnly  devoted  to  destruction,  according  to  their  divine  com¬ 
mand,  as  were  generally  the  seven  wicked  nations  of  Canaan,  and  those 
sinners  the  Amalekites,  1  Sam.  xv.  IS,  it  was  utterly  unlawful  to  permit 
those  enemies  to  be  redeemed,  but  they  were  to  be  all  utterly  destroy¬ 
ed.  See  also  Numb.  xxi.  2, 3. 

t  That  the  name  of  this  thief  was  not  Achan,  as  in  the  common  co¬ 
pies,  but  Achar ,  as  here  in  Josephus,  and  in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions, 
B.  vii.  cli.  ii.  and  elsewhere,  is  evident  by  the  allusion  to  that  name  in 
the  curse  of  Joshua,  Why  hast  thou  troubled  us?  The  Lord  shall  trouble 
thee,  where  the  Hebrew  words  allude  only  to  the  name  Achar,  but  not 
to  Achan.  Accordingly,  this  valley  of  Achar,  or  Achor,  was  and  is  a 
known  place,  a  little  jiorth  of  Gilgal,  so  called  from  the  days  of  Joshua 
till  this  day.  See  Joshua  vii.  26  Isa.  Ixv.  10.  Hosea  ii  15,  and  Dr. 
Bernard  s  notes  here. 

f  Here  Dr.  Bernard  very  justly  observes,  that  a  few  words  are  drop¬ 
ped  out  of  Josephus’s  copies,  on  account  of  the  repetition  of  the  word 
shekels,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  read  thus:  A  piece  of  gold  that  weighed 
50  shekels,  and  one  of  silver  that  weighed  200  shekels,  as  in  our  other  co¬ 
pies.  Joshua  vii.  21. 


296 


Book  V. 


ANTIQUITIES 

called  Gilgal,  which  denotes  #  liberty  ;  for  since  now  they 
had  passed  over  Jordan,  they  looked  on  themselves  as  freed 
from  the  miseries  which  they  had  undergone  from  the  Egyp¬ 
tians,  and  in  the  wilderness. 

12.  Now  a  few  days  after  this  calamity  that  befell  Jericho, 
Joshua  sent  three  thousand  armed  men  to  take  Ai,  a  city  si¬ 
tuate  above  Jericho,  but  upon  the  sight  of  the  people  of  Ai, 
with  them  they  were  driven  back,  and  lost  thirty-six  of  their 
men.  When  this. was  told  the  Israelites,  it  made  them  very, 
sad,  and  exceeding  disconsolate,  not  "so  much  because  of  the 
relation  the  men  that  were  destroyed  bare  to  them,  though 
those  that  were  destroyed  were  all  good  men,  and  deserved 
their  esteem,  as  by  the  despair  it  occasioned  ;  for  while  they 
believed  that  they  were  already  in  effect  in  possession  of  the 
land,  and  should  bring  back  the  army  out  of  the  battles  with¬ 
out  loss,  as  God  had  promised  beforehand,  they  now  saw  un¬ 
expectedly  their  enemies  bold  with  success,  so  they  put  sack¬ 
cloth  over  their  garments  and  continued  in  tears  and  lamen¬ 
tation  all  the  day,  without  the  least  inquiry  after  food,  but 
laid  what  happened  greatly  to  heart. 

13.  When  Joshua  saw  the  army  so  njuch  afflicted  and  pos¬ 
sessed  with  forebodings  of  evil  as  to  their  whole  expedition, 
he  used  freedom  with  God  and  said,  “  We  are  not  come  thus 
far  out  of  any  rashness  of  our  own,  as  though  we  thought  our¬ 
selves  able  to  subdue  this  land  with  our  own  weapons,  but 
at  the  instigation  of  Moses  thy  servant  for  this  purpose,  because 
thou  hast  promised  us  by  many  signs  that  thou  wouldst  give 
us  this  land  for  a  possession,  and  that  thou  wouldst  make  our 
army  always  superior  in  war  to  our  enemies,  and  accordingly, 
some  success  has  already  attended  upon  us  agreeably  to  thy 
promises,  but  because  we  have  now  unexpectedly  been  foil¬ 
ed,  and  have  lost  some  men  out  of  our  army,  we  are  grieved 
at  it,  as  fearing  what  thou  has  promised  us,  and  what  Moses 
foretold  us,  cannot  be  depended  on  by  us ;  and  our  future 
expectation  troubles  us  the  more,  because  we  have  met  with 
such  a  disaster  in  this  our  first  attempt.  But  do  thou,  O  Lord, 
free  us  from  these  suspicions,  for  thou  art  able  to  find  a  cure 
for  those  disorders  by  giving  us  victory,  which  will  both  take 
away  the  grief  we  are-in  at  present,  and  prevent  our  distrust 
as  to  what  is  to  come.” 

14.  These  intercessions  Joshua  put  up  to  God  as  he  lay 
prostrate  on  his  face  :  whereupon  God  answered  him,  “That 
he  should  rise  up,  and  purify  his  host  from  the  pollution 


*  I  agree  here  with  Dr  Bernard,  and  approve  of  Josephus's  interprc- 
ation  of  Gilgal  for  liberly.  See  Joshua  v.  9. 


or  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  I. 


297 


which  was  got  into  it ;  that  things  consecrated  to  me  have 
been  impudently  stolen  from  me;  and  that  this  has  been  the 
occasion  why  this  defeat  had  happened  to  them ;  and  that 
when  they  should  search  out  and  punish  the  offender,  he 
would  ever  take  care  they  should  have  the  victory  over  their 
enemies.”  This  Joshua  told  the  people :  and  calling  for 
Eleazer  the  high-priest,  and  the  men  in  authority,  he  cast 
lots,  tribe  by  tribe,  and  when  the  lots  showed  that  this  wicked 
action  was  done  by  one  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  he  then  again 
proposed  the  lot  to  the  several  families  thereto  belonging,  so 
the  truth  of  this  wicked  action  was  found  to  belong  to  the  fa¬ 
mily  of  Zachar ;  and  when  the  inquiry  was  made,  man  by 
man,  they  took  Achar,  who,  upon  God’s  reducing  him  to  a  ter¬ 
rible  extremity,  could  not  deny  the  fact :  so  he  confessed  the 
theft,  and  produced  what  he  had  taken  in  the  midst  of  them, 
whereupon  he  was  immediately  put  to  death ;  and  attained 
no  more  than  to  be  buried  in  the  night,  in  a  disgraceful  man¬ 
ner,  and  such  as  was  suitable  to  a  condemned  malefactor. 

15.  When  Joshua  had  thus  purified  the  host,  he  led  them’ 
against  Ai :  and  having  by  night  laid  an  ambush  round  about 
the  city,  he  attacked  the  enemies  as  soon  as  it  was  day  :  but 
as  they  advanced  boldly  against  the  Israelites,  because  of  their 
former  victory,  he  made  them  believe  he  retired,  and  by  that 
means  drew  them  a  great  way  from  the  city,  they  still  sup¬ 
posing  that  they  were  pursuing  their  enemies,  and  despised 
them  as  though  the  case  had  been  the  same  with  that  in  the 
former  battle,  after  which  Joshua  ordered  his  forces  to  turn 
about,  and  placed  them  against  their  front :  he  then  made  the 
signals  agreed  upon  to  those  that  lay  in  ambush,  and  so 
excited  them  to  light ;  so  they  ran  suddenly  into  the  city,  the 
inhabitants  being  upon  the  walls,  nay,  others  of  them  being  in 
perplexity,  and  coming  to  see  those  that  were  without  the 
gates.  Accordingly,  these  men  took  the  city,  and  slew  all 
that  they  met  with ;  but  Joshua  forced  those  that  came  against 
him  to  come  to  a  close  fight,  and  discomfited  them,  and  made 
them  run  away ;  and  when  they  were  driven  towards  the  city, 
and  thought  it  had  not  been  touched,  as  soon  as  they  saw  it 
was  taken,  and  perceived  it  was  burnt,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  they  wandered  about  in  the  fields  in  a  scattered  con¬ 
dition  and  were  no  way  able  to  defend  themselves,  because 
they  had  none  to  support  them.  Now  when  this  calamity 
was  come  upon  the  men  of  Ai,  there  were  a  great  number  of 
children,  and  women,  and  servants,  and  an  immense  quantity 
of  other  furniture.  The  Hebrews  also  took  herds  of  cattle, 
and  a  great  deal  of  money,  for  this  was  a  rich  country.  So 


298  ANTIQUITIES  '  Booh  V • 

when  Joshua  came  to  Gilgal,  he  divided  all  these  spoils  among 
the  soldiers. 

16.  But  the  Gibeonites,  who  inhabited  very  neartoJeru- 
Salem,  when  they  saw  what  miseries  had  happened  to  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Jericho,  and  to  those  of  Ai,  and  suspected  the  like 
sore  calamity  would  come  as  far  as  themselves,  they  did  not 
think  fit  to  ask  for  mercy  of  Joshua*  for  they  supposed  they 
should  find  little  mercy  from  him,  who  made  war  that  he 
might  entirely  destroy  the  nation  of  the  Canaanites,  but  they 
invited  the  people  of  Zaphirah  and  Kiriathjearim,  who  were 
their  neighbours  to  join  in  league  with  them  ;  and  told  them, 
that  neither  could  they  themselves  avoid  the  danger  they  were 
all  in,  if  the  Israelites  should  prevent  them,  and  seize  upon 
them ;  so  when  they  had  persuaded  them,  they  resolved  to 
endeavour  to  escape  the  forces  of  the  Israelites-.  According¬ 
ly,  upon  their  agreement  to  what  they  proposed,  they  sent 
ambassadors  to  Joshua  to  make  a  league  of  friendship  with 
him,  and  those  such  of  the  citizens  as  were  best  approved  of, 
and  most  capable  of  doing  what  was  most  advantageous  to  the 
multitude.  Now  these  ambassadors  thought  it  dangerous  to 
confess  themselves  to  be  Canaanites,  but  thought  they  might, 
by  this  contrivance  avoid  the  danger,  namely,  by  saying  that 
they  have  no  relation  to  the  Canaanites  at  all,  but  dwelt  at  a 
very  great  distance  from  them :  and  they  said  farther,  that 
they  came  a  long  way  on  account  of  the  reputation  he  had 
gained  for  his  virtue.:  and  as  a  mark  of  the  truth  of  what  they 
said,  they  showed  him  the  habit  they  were  in,  for  that  their 
clothes  were  new  when  they  came  out,  but  were  greatly  worn 
by  the  length  of  time  they  had  been  in  their  journey,  for  in¬ 
deed  they  took  torn  garments,  on  purpose  that  they  might 
make  him  believe  so.  So  they  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  peo¬ 
ple,  and  said  that  they  were  sent  by  the  people  of  Gibeon, 
and  of  the  circumjacent  cities,  which  were  very  remote  from 
the  land  where  they  now  were,  to  make  such  a  league  of  friend¬ 
ship  with  them,  and  this  on  such  conditions  as  were  custo¬ 
mary  among  their  forefathers  ;  for  when  they  understood,  that, 
by  the  favour  of  God,  and  his  gift  to  them,  they  were  to  have 
the  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan  bestowed  upon  them, 
they  said  that  they  were  very  glad  to  hear  it,  and  desired  to 
be  admitted  into  the  number  of  their  citizens.  Thus  did  these 
ambassadors  speak ;  and  showing  them  the  marks  of  their  long 
journey,  they  entreated  the  Hebrews  to  make  a  league  of 
friendship  with  them.  Accordingly,  Joshua,  believing  what 
they  said,  that  they  were  not  of  the  nation  of  the  Canaanites, 
entered  into  friendship  with  them  j  and  Eleazer  the  high- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  I. 


29$ 


priest,  with  the  senate,  sware  to  them,  that  they  would  es¬ 
teem  them  their  friends  and  associates,  and  would  attempt 
nothing  that  should  be  unfair  against  them,  the  multitude  also 
assenting  to  the  oaths  that  were  made  to  them.  So  these  men, 
having  obtained  what  they  desired  by  deceiving  the  Israelites, 
went  home ;  but  when  Joshua  led  his  army  to  the  country, 
at  the  bottom  of  the  mountains  of  this  part  of  Canaan,  he  un¬ 
derstood  that  the  Gibeonites  dwelt  not  far  from  Jerusalem,  and 
that  they  were  of  the  stock  of  the  Canaanites,  so  he  sent  for 
their  governors,  and  reproached  them  with  the  cheat  they 
had  put  upon  him  ;  but  they  alleged  on  their  own  behalf,  that 
they  had  no  other  way  to  save  themselves  but  that,  and  were, 
therefore,  forced  to  have  recourse  to  it.  So  he  called  for 
Eleazer  the  high-priest,  and  for  the  senate,  who  thought  it 
right  to  make  them  public  servants,  that  they  might  not  break 
the  oath  they  had  made  to  them  ;  and  they  ordained  them  to 
be  so.  And  this  was  the  method  by  which  these  men  found 
safety  and  security  under  the  calamity  that  was  ready  to  over¬ 
take  them. 

17.  But  the  king  of  Jerusalem  took  it  to  heart  that  the  Gi¬ 
beonites  had  gone  over  to  Joshua,  so  he  called  upon  the  kings 
of  the  neighbouring  nations  to  join  together,  and  make  war 
against  them.  Now  when  the  Gibeonites  saw  these  kings, 
which  were  four  besides  the  king  of  Jerusalem,  and  perceiv¬ 
ed  that  they  had  pitched  their  camp  at  a  certain  fountain  not 
far  from  their  city,  and  were  getting  ready  for  the  seige  of  it, 
they  called  upon  Joshua  to  assist  them,  for  such  was  their  case, 
as  to  expect  to  be  destroyed  by  these  Canaanites,  but  to  sup¬ 
pose  they  should  be  saved  by  those  that  came  for  the  de¬ 
struction  of  the  Canaanites,  because  of  the  league  of  friendship 
that  was  between  them.  Accordingly,  Joshua  made  haste  with 
his  whole  army  to  assist  them,  and  inarching  day  and  night,  in 
the  morning  he  fell  upon  the  enemies  as  they  were  going  up 
to  the  siege;  and  when  he  had  discomfited  them,  he  follow¬ 
ed  them  and  pursued  them  down  the  descent  of  the  hills. 
This  place  is  called  Beth-horon ;  where  he  also  understood 
that  God  assisted  him,  which  he  declared  by  thunder  and 
thunder-bolts,  as  also  by  the  falling  of  hail  larger  than  usual 
Moreover,  *it  happened  that  the  day  was  lengthened,  that  the 


*  Whether  this  lengthening  of  the  day,  by  the  standing  still  of  the 
sun  and  moon  were  physical  and  real,  by  the  miraculous  stoppage  of  thfc 
diurnal  motion  of  the  earth  for  about  half  a  revolution,  or  whether  on¬ 
ly  apparent,  by  aerial  phosphori  imitating  the  sun  and  moon  as  stationa¬ 
ry  so  long,  while  clouds  and  the  nigh!  hid  the  real  ones,  and  (his  parhe¬ 
lion  or  mock  sun  affording  sufficient  light  for  Joshua’s  pursuit  and  com  - 
plete  victory, (which  aerial  phosphori,  in  other  shapes,  have  been  more 


Book  V' 


300  ANTIQUITIES 

night  might  not  come  on  too  soon,  and  be  an  obstruction  to 
the  zeal  of  the  Hebrews  in  pursuing  their  enemies,  insomuch, 
that  Joshua  took  the  kings,  which  were  hidden  in  a  certain 
cave  at  Makkedah,  and  put  them  to  death.  Now  that  the  day 
was  lengthened  at  this  time,  and  was  longer  than  ordinary,  is 
expressed  in  the  books  #laid  up  in  the  temple. 

18.  These  kings  which  made  war  with,  and  were  ready  to 
fight  the  Gibeonites,  but  thus  overthrown,  Joshua  returned 
again  to  the  mountainous  parts  of  Canaan ;  and  when  he  had 
made  a  great  slaughter  of  the  people  there  and  took  their 
prey,  he  came  to  the  camp  at  Gilgal.  And  now  there  went 
a  great  fame  abroad  among  the  neighbouring  people  of  the 
courage  of  the  Hebrews,  and  those  that  heard  what  a  number 
of  men  were  destroyed,  were  greatly  affrighted  at  it :  so  the 
kings  that  lived  about  mount  Libanus,  who  were  Canaanites, 
and  those  Canaanites  that  dwelt  in  the  plain  country,  with 
auxiliaries  out  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  pitched  their 
camp  at  Beroth,  a  city  of  the  upper  Galilee,  not  far  from  Ca- 
tlesh,  which  is  itself  also  a  place  in  Galilee.  Now  the  num¬ 
ber  of  the  whole  army  was  three  hundred  thousand  armed 
footmen,  and  ten  thousand  horsemen,  and  twenty  thousand 
chariots,  so  that  the  multitude  of  the  enemies  affrighted  both 
Joshua  himself  and  the  Israelites  5  and  they,  instead  of  be¬ 
ing  full  of  hope  of  good  success,  were  superstitiously  timo¬ 
rous,  “with  the  great  terror  with  which  they  were  stricken. 
Whereupon  God  upbraided  them  with  the  fear  they  were  in  ; 
and  asked  them  whether  they  desired  a  greater  help  than  he 
could  afford  them  ?  and  promised  them  that  they  should  over¬ 
come  their  enemies  ;  and  withal  charged  them  to  make  their 
enemies’  horses  useless,  and  to  burn  their  chariots.  So 
Joshua  became  full  of  courage  upon  these  promises  of  God, 
and  went  out  suddenly  against  the  enemies,  and  after  five 
day’s  march  he  came  upon  them,  and  joined  battle  with  them, 
and  there  was  a  terrible  fight,  and  such  a  number  were  slain 


than  ordinarily  common  of  late  years,)  cannot  now  be  determined-  Phi¬ 
losophers  and  astronomers  will  naturally  incline  to  this  latter  hypothesis. 
In  the  mean  time,  the  fact  itself  was  mentioned  in  the  book  of  Jasher, 
now  lost,  Joshua  x  13,  and  is  confirmed  by  Isaiah  xxviii.  21,  by  Habak- 
kuk,  B.  iii-  ch.  xi.  and  by  the  father  of  Sirach,  Eccles.  xlvi.  4.  In  the 
18lh  Psalm  of  Solomon,  ver.  ull  it  is  also  said  of  the  luminaries,  with 
relation  no  doubt  to  this  and  the  like  miraculous  standing  still  and  going 
back  in  the  days  of  Joshua  and  Hezekiah,  They  have,  not  wandered  from, 
the  day  that  he  created  them ;  they  have  not  forsaken  their  way  from  ancient 
generations,  unless  it  were  when  God  enjoined  them  [so  to  do]  by  the  com¬ 
mand  of  his  servants.  See  Authent.  Rec.  part  i.  p.  154. 

*  Of  the  books  laid  up  in  the  temple,  see  the  note  on  Anliq.  B.  iii-  ch, 

h  §  7. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


301 


Qkap.  I. 

as  could  not  be  believed  by  those  that  heard  it.  He  also  went 
on  in  the  pursuit  a  great  way,  and  destroyed  the  entire  army 
of  the  enemies,  few  only  excepted,  and  all  the  kings  fell  in  the 
battle  ;  insomuch,  that  when  there  wanted  men  to  be  killed, 
Joshua  slew  their  horses,  and  burnt  their  chariots,  and  pass¬ 
ed  all  over  their  country  without  opposition,  no  one  daring  to 
meet  him  in  battle  ;  but  he  still  went  on,  taking  their  cities  by 
siege,  and  again  killing  whatever  he  took. 

19.  The  fifth  year  was  now  past,  and  there  was  not  one  of 
the  Canaanites  remained  any  longer,  excepting  some  that  had 
retired  to  places  of  great  strength.  So  Joshua  removed  his 
camp  to  the  mountainous  country,  and  placed  the  tabernacle 
in  the  city  Shiloh,  for  that  seemed  a  fit  place  for  it,  because 
of  the  beauty  of  its  situation,  until  such  time  as  their  affairs 
would  permit  them  to  build  a  temple  ;  and  from  thence  he 
went  to  Shechem,  together  with  all  the  people,  and  raised  ari 
altar  where  Moses  had  beforehand  directed  ;  then  did  he  di¬ 
vide  the  army,  and  placed  one  half  of  them,  on  mount  Geri- 
7,im,  and  the  other  half  on  #mount  Ebal,  on  which  mountain 
the  altar  was  :  he  also  placed  there  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  the 
priests.  And  when  they  had  sacrificed,  and  denounced  the 
[blessings  and  the]  curses,  and  had  left  them  engraven  upon 

•the  altar,  they  returned  to  Shiloh. 

20.  And  now  Joshua  was  old,  and  saw  that  the  cities  of  the 
Canaanites  were  not  easily  to  be  taken,  not  only  because  they 
were  situated  in  such  strong  places,  but  because  of  the 
strength  of  the  walls  themselves,  which  being  built  round 
about,  the  natural  strength  of  the  places  on  which  the  cities 
stood  seemed  capable  of  repelling  their  enemies  from  besieg¬ 
ing  them,  and  of  making  those  enemies  despair  of  taking  them ; 
for  when  the  Canaanites  had  learned  that  the  Israelites  came 
out  of  Egypt  in  order  to  destroy  them,  they  were  busy  all 
that  time  in  making  their  cities  strong  :  so  he  gathered  the 
people  together  to  a  congregation  at  Shiloh  ;  and  when  they, 
with  great  zeal  and  haste,  were  come  thither,  he  observed 
to  them  what  prosperous  success  they  had  already  had,  and 
what  glorious  things  had  been  done,  and  those  such  as  were 
worthy  of  that  God  who  enabled  them  to  do  those  things,  and 
worthy  of  the  virtue  of  those  laws  which  they  followed, 
lie  took  notice  also,  that  thirty-one  of  those  kings  that  ven¬ 
tured  to  give  them  battle  were  overcome,  and  every  army, 
how  great  soever  it  were,  that  confided  in  their  own  power, 
and  fought  with  them,  was  utterly  destroyed ;  so  that  not  so 
much  as  any  of  their  posterity  remained.  And  as  for  the  ci- 


Of  the  situation  of  this  altar,  see  Essay  on  the  Old  Test.  p.  17 0, 171. 

von.  i*.  C  c 


302 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  V * 


ties  since  some  of  them  were  taken,  but  the  others  must  be 
taken  in  length  of  time  by  long  sieges,  both  on  account  of  the 
strength  of  their  walls,  and  of  the  confidence  the  inhabitants 
had  in  them  thereby,  he  thought  it  reasonable  that  those 
tribes  that  came  along  with  them  from  beyond  Jordan,  and 
had  partaken  of  the  dangers  they  had  undergone,  being  their 
own  kindred,  should  now  be  dismissed  and  sent  home,  and 
should  have  thanks  for  the  pains  they  had  taken  together  with 
them.  As  also,  he  thought  it  reasonable  that  they  should  send 
one  man  out  of  every  tribe,  and  he  such  as  had  the  testimony 
of  extraordinary  virtue,  who  should  measure  the  land  faithful¬ 
ly  and  without  any  fallacy  or  deceit,  should  inform  them  of 
its  real  magnitude. 

21.  Now  Joshua,  when  he  had  thus  spoken  to  them,  found 
that  the  multitude  approved  of  his  proposal.  So  he  sent  men 
to  measure  their  county,  and  sent  with  them  some  geometri¬ 
cians,  who  could  not  easily  fail  of  knowing  the  truth,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  their  skill  in  that  art.  He  also  gave  them  a  charge 
to  estimate  the  measure  of  that  part  of  the  land  that  was  most 
fruitful,  and  what  was  not  so  good  ;  for  such  is  the  nature  of 
the  land  of  Canaan,  that  one  may  see  large  plains,  and  such 
as  are  exceeding  fit  to  produce  fruit,  which  yet,  if  they  were 
compared  to  other  parts  of  the  country,  might  be  reckoned* 
exceeding  fruitful,  yet  if  it  be  compared  with  the  fields  about 
Jericho,  and  to  those  that  belong  to  Jerusalem,  will  appear  to 
be  of  no  account  at  all.  And  although  it  falls  out,  that  these 
people  have  but  a  very  little  of  this  sort  of  land,  and  that  it 
is,  for  the  main,  mountainous  also,  yet  does  it  not  come  be¬ 
hind  other  parts,  on  account  of  its  exceeding  goodness  and 
beauty  ;  for  which  reason  Joshua  thought  the  land  for  the 
tribes  should  be  divided  by  estimation  of  its  goodness,  rather 
than  the  largeness  of  its  measure,  it  often  happening  that  one 
acre  of  some  sort  of  land  was  equivalent  to  a  thousand  other 
acres.  Now  the  men  that  were  sent,  which  were  in  number 
ten,  travelled  all  about,  and  made  an  estimation  of  the  land, 
and  in  the  seventh  month  came  to  him  to  the  city  of  Shiloh, 
where  they  had  set  up  the  tabernacle. 

22.  So  Joshua  took  both  Eleazer,  and  the  senate,  and  with 
them  the  heads  of  the  tribes,  and  distributed  the  land  to  the 
nine  tribes,  and  to  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh,  appointing  the 
dimensions  to  be  according  to  the  largeness  of  each  tribe. 
So  when  he  had  cast  lots,  Judah  had  assigned  him  by  lot  the 
upper  part  of  Judea,  reaching  as  far  as  Jerusalem,  and  its 
breadth  extended  to  the  lake  of  Sodom.  Now  in  the  lot  of 
this  tribe  there  were  the  cities  of  Ascalon  and  Gaza.  The  lot 
of  Simeon,  which  was  the  second,  included  that  part  of  Idu- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


303 


Chap.  I. 

men  which  bordered  upon  Egypt  and  Arabia.  As  to  the  Ben- 
jamites,  their  lot  fell  so,  that  its  length  reached  from  the  ri¬ 
ver  Jordan  to  the  sea,  but  in  breadth  it  was  bounded  by  Je¬ 
rusalem  and  Bethel :  and  this  lot  was  the  narrowest  of  all,  by 
reason  of  the  goodness  of  the  land,  for  it  included  Jericho, 
and  the  city  of  Jerusalem.  The  tribe  of  Ephraim  had  by  lot 
the  land  that  extended  in  length  from  the  river  Jordan  to 
Gezer,  but  in  breadth  as  far  as  from  Bethel,  till  it  end  at  the 
great  plain.  The  half  tribe  of  Manasseh  had  the  land  from 
Jordan  to  the  city  Dora,  but  its  breadth  was  at  Bethshan, 
which  is  now  called  Scythopolis.  And  after  these  was  Issa- 
char,  which  had  its  limits  in  length  mount  Carmel  and  the  ri¬ 
ver,  but  its  limit  in  breadth  was  mount  Tabor.  The  tribe  of 
Zabulon's  lot  included  the  land  which  lay  as  far  as  the  lake  of 
Genesareth,  and  that  which  belonged  to  Carmel  and  the  sea. 
The  tribe  of  Aser  had  that  part  which  was  called  the  Valley , 
for  such  it  was,  and  all  that  part  which  lay  over  against  Si- 
don.  The  city  Arce  belonged  to  their  share,  which  is  also 
named  Actipus.  The  Napthalites  received  the  eastern  parts 
as  far  as  the  city  of  Damascus  and  the  Upper  Galilee,  unto 
mount  Libanus,and  the  fountains  of  Jordan,  which  arise  out 
of  that  mountain;  that  is,  out  of  that  part  of  it  whose  limits 
belong  to  the  neigbouring  city  Arce.  The  Danites’  lot  indu¬ 
ed  all  that  part  of  the  valley  which  respects  the  sun-setting, 
and  were  bounded  by  Azotus  and  Dora  :  as  also  they  had  all 
Jamnia  and  Gath,  from  Ekron  to  the  mountain  where  the 
tribe  of  Judah  begins. 

23.  After  this  manner  did  Joshua  divide  the  six  nations 
that  bear  the  name  of  the  sons  of  Canaan,  with  their  land,  to 
be  possessed  by  the  nine  tribes  and  an  half;  for  Moses  had 
prevented  him,  and  had  already  distributed  the  land  of  the 
Amorites,  which  itself  was  so  called  also  from  one  of  the  sons 
of  Canaan,  to  the  two  tribes  and  an  half,  as  we  have  showed 
already  :  but  the  parts  about  Sidon,  as  also  those  that  belong¬ 
ed  to  the  Arkites,  and  the  Amathites,  and  the  Ardians,  were 
not  yet  regularly  disposed  of. 

24.  But  now  was  Joshua  hindered  by  his  age  from  execut¬ 
ing  what  he  intended  to  do,  (as  did  those  that  succeeded  him 
in  the  government,  take  little  care  of  what  was  for  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  the  public,)  so  he  gave  it  in  charge  to  every  tribe,  to 
leave  no  remainder  of  the  race  of  the  Canaanites  in  the  land 
that  had  been  divided  to  them  by  lot ;  that  Moses  had  assured 
them  beforehand,  and  they  might  rest  fully  satisfied  about  it, 
that  their  own  security,  and  their  observation  of  their  own 
laws,  depended  wholly  upon  it.  Moreover,  he  enjoined  them 
to  give  thirty-eight  cities  to  the  Lcvites,  for  they  had  already 


304 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  V . 


received  ten  in  the  country  of  the  Amorites  ;  and  three  of 
these  he  assigned  to  those  that  fled  from  the  manslayers,  who 
were  to  inhabit  there ;  for  he  was  very  solicitous  that  nothing 
should  be  neglected  which  Moses  had  ordained.  These  cities 
were,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  Hebron  ;  of  that  of  Ephraim, 
Schechem  ;  and  of  that  of  Naphtali,  Cadesh,  which  is  a  place 
of  the  Upper  Galilee.  He  also  distributed  among  them  the 
rest  of  the  prey  not  yet  distributed,  which  was  very  great, 
whereby  they  had  an  affluence  of  great  riches,  both  all  in  gen¬ 
eral,  and  every  one  in  particular ;  and  of  this  gold,  and  of  vest¬ 
ments,  and  of  other  furniture,  besides  a  multitude  of_cattle 
whose  number  could  not  be  told. 

25.  After  this  was  over,  he  gathered  the  army  together  to 
a  congregation,  and  spake  thus  to  those  tribes  that  had  their 
settlement  in  the  land  of  the  Amorites  beyond  Jordan,  for 
50,000  of  them  had  armed  themselves,  and  had  gone  to  the 
war  along  with  them  :  u  Since  that  God,  who  is  the  Father 
and  Lord  of  the  Hebrew  nation,  has  now  given  us  this  land 
for  a  possession,  and  promised  to  preserve  us  in  the  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  it  as  our  own  for  ever  ;  and  since  you  have  with  ala¬ 
crity  offered  yourselves  to  assist  us  when  we  wanted  that  as¬ 
sistance  on  all  occasions,  according  to  his  command,  it  is  but 
just,  now  all  our  difficulties  are  over,  that  you  should  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  enjoy  rest,  and  that  we  should  trespass  on  your  ala¬ 
crity  to  help  us  no  longer,  that  so,  if  we  should  again  stand  in 
need  of  it,  we  may  readily  have  it  on  any  future  emergency, 
and  not  tire  you  out  so  much  now,  as  may  make  you  slower 
in  assisting  us  another  time.  We,  therefore,  return  you  our 
thanks  for  the  dangers  you  have  undergone  with  us,  and  we 
do  it  not  at  this  time  only,  but  we  shall  always  be  thus  dispos¬ 
ed  ;  and  be  so  good  as  to  remember  our  friends,  and  to  pre¬ 
serve  in  mind  what  advantages  we  have  had  from  them,  and 
how  you  have  put  off  the  enjoyments  of  your  own  happiness 
for  our  sakes,  and  have  laboured  for  what  we  have  now,  by 
the  good-will  of  God  obtained,  and  resolved  not  to  enjoy  your 
own  prosperity  till  you  had  afforded  us  that  assistance.  How¬ 
ever,  you  have,  by  joining  your  labour  with  ours,  gotten  great 
plenty  of  riches,  and  will  carry  home  with  you  much  prey, 
with  gold  and  silver,  and  what  is  more  than  all  these,  our 
good-will  towards  you,  and  a  mind  willingly  disposed  to  make 
a  requital  of  your  kindness  to  us  in  what  case  soever  you  shall 
desire  it,  for  you  have  not  omitted  any  thing  which  Moses  be¬ 
forehand  required  of  you,  nor  have  you  despised  him  because 
he  was  dead  and  gone  from  you,  so  that  there  is  nothing  to 
diminish  that  gratitude  which  we  owe  to  you.  We,  there¬ 
fore,  dismiss  you  joyful  to  your  own  inheritances  j  and  we  en- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


305 


Chop.  I. 

treat  you  to  suppose  that  there  is  no  limit  to  be  set  to  the  inti¬ 
mate  relation  there  is  between  us  ;  and  that  you  will  not  ima¬ 
gine,  that  because  this  river  is  interposed  between  us,  that  you 
are  of  a  different  race  from  us,  and  not  Hebrews,  for  we  are 
all  the  posterity  of  Abraham,  both  we  that  inhabit  here,  and 
you  that  inhabit  there ;  and  it  is  the  same  God  that  brought 
our  forefathers  and  yours  into  the  world,  whose  worship  and 
form  of  government  we  are  to  take  care  of,  which  he  has  or¬ 
dained,  and  are  most  carefully  to  observe,  because  while  you 
continue  in  those  laws,  God  will  also  show  himself  merciful 
and  assisting  to  you  ;  but  if  you  imitate  the  other  nations,  and 
forsake  those  laws,  he  will  reject  your  nation.”  When  Josh¬ 
ua  had  spoken  thus,  and  saluted  them  all,  both  those  in  autho¬ 
rity  one  by  one,  and  the  whole  multitude  in  common,  he  him¬ 
self  stayed  where  he  was,  but  the  people  conducted  those 
tribes  on  their  journey,  and  that  not  without  tears  in  their  eyes; 
and  indeed  they  hardly  knew  how  to  part  one  from  the  other. 

2.6.  Now  when  the  tribe  of  Reubel,  and  that  of  Gad,  and 
as  many  of  the  Manassites  as  followed  them,  were  passed  over 
the  river,  they  built  an  altar  on  the  banks  of  Jordan  as  a 
monument  to  posterity,  and  a  sign  of  the  relation  to  those  that 
should  inhabit  on  the  other  side.  But  when  those  on  the  other 
side  heard  that  those  who  had  been  dismissed  had  built  an 
altar,  but  did  not  hear  with  what  intention  they  built  it,  but 
supposed  it  to  be  by  way  of  innovation,  and  for  the  introduc¬ 
tion  of  strange  gods  they  did  not  incline  to  disbelieveit,  but 
thinking  this  defamatory  report,  as  if  it  were  built  for  divine 
worship,  was  credible,  they  appeared  in  arms,  as  though  they 
w'ould  avenge  themselves  on  those  that  built  the  altar,  and 
they  were  about  to  pass  over  the  river,  and  to  punish  them 
for  their  subversion  of  the  laws  of  their  country,  for  they  did 
not  think  it  fit  to  regard  them  on  account  of  their  kindred,  or 
the  dignity  of  those  that  had  given  the  occasion,  but  to  regard 
the  will  of  God,  and  the  manner  wherein  he  desired  to  be 
worshipped,  so  these  men  put  themselves  in  array  for  war  : 
but  Joshua,  and  Eleazer  the  high-priest,  and  the  senate,  re¬ 
strained  them  ;  and  persuaded  them  first  to  make  trial  by 
words  of  their  intention,  and  afterwards,  if  they  found  that 
their  intention  was  evil,  then  only  to  proceed  to  make  war 
upon  them.  Accordingly,  they  sent  as  ambassadors  to  them 
Phineas,  the  son  of  Eleazer,  and  ten  more  persons  that  were 
in  esteem  among  the  Hebrews,  to  learn  of  them  what  was  in 
their  mind,  when,  upon  passing  over  the  river,  they  had 
built  an  altar  upon  its  banks.  But  as  soon  as  these  ambassa¬ 
dors  were  passed  over,  and  were  come  to  them,  and  a  con 
gregation  was  assembled,  Phineas  stood  up  and  said,  that 

C  c  2 


30  0 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  V. 


u  the  offence  they  had  been  guilty  of  was  of  too  heinous  a  na¬ 
ture  to  be  punished  by  words  alone,  or  by  them  only  to  be 
amended  for  the  future  ;  yet  that  they  did  not  so  look  at  the 
heinousness  of  their  transgression  as  to  have  recourse  to  arms, 
and  to  a  battle  for  their  punishment  immediately,  but  that  on 
account  of  their  kindred,  and  the  probability  there  was  that 
they  might  be  reclaimed,  they  took  this  method  of  sending  an 
embassage  to  them,  that  when  we  have  learned  the  true  rea¬ 
sons  by  which  you  have  been  moved  to  build  this  altar,  we 
may  neither  seem  to  have  been  too  rash  in  assaulting  you  b\r 
our  weapons  of  war,  if  it  prove  that  you  made  the  altar  for 
justifiable  reasons,  and  may  then  justly  punish  you  if  the  ac¬ 
cusation  prove  true  ;  for  we  can  hardly  suppose  that  you 
who  have  been  acquainted  with  the  will  of  God,  and  have 
been  hearers  of  those  laws  which  he  himself  hath  given  us 
now  you  are  separated  from  us,  and  gone  to  the  patrimony  of 
yours,  which  you,  through  the  grace  of  God,  and  that  provi¬ 
dence  he  exercises  over  you  have  obtained  by  lot,  can  forget 
him,  and  can  leave  that  ark,  and  that  altar  which  is  peculiar 
to  us,  and  can  introduce  strange  gods,  and  imitate  the  wicked 
practices  of  the  Canaanites.  Now  this  will  appear  to  have 
■been  a  small  crime  if  you  repent  now,  and  proceed  no  farther 
in  your  madness,  but  pay  a  due  reverence  to,  and  keep  in 
mind  the  laws  of  your  country ;  but  if  you  persist  in  your 
sins,  we  will  not  grudge  our  pains  to  preserve  our  laws,  but 
we  will  pass  over  Jordan  and  defend  them,  and  defend  God 
also,  and  shall  esteem  of  you  as  of  men  no  way  differing  from 
the  Canaanites,  but  shall  destroy  you  in  the  like  manner  as 
we  destroyed  them  ;  for  do  not  you  imagine,  that  because 
you  are  got  over  the  river  that  you  are  got  out  of  the  reach  of 
God’s  power  ;  you  are  every  where  in  places  that  belong  to 
him,  and  impossible  it  is  to  overrun  his  power,  and  the  pun¬ 
ishment  he  will  bring  on  men  thereby  :  but  if  you  think  that 
your  settlement  here  will  be  an  obstruction  to  your  conver¬ 
sion  to  what  is  good,  nothing  need  hinder  us  from  dividing  the 
land  anew,  and  leaving  this  old  land  to  be  for  the  feeding  of 
sheep  :  but  you  will  do  well  to  return  to  your  duty,  and  to 
leave  off  these  new  crimes  :  and  we  beseech  you  by  }'our  chil¬ 
dren,  and  wives,  not  to  force  us  to  punish  you.  Take  there¬ 
fore,  such  measures  in  this  assembly,  as  supposing  that  your 
own  safety,  and  the  safety  of  those  that  are  dearest  to  you,  is 
therein  concerned,  and  believe  that  it  is  better  for  you  to  be 
conquered  by  words,  than  to  continue  in  your  purpose,  and  to 
experience  deeds  and  war  therefor.” 

2 7-  When  Phineas  had  discoursed  thus,  the  governors  of 
the  assembly,  and  the  whole  multitude,  began  to  make  an  apo- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


307 


Chaj).  I. 

logy  for  themselves,  concerning  what  they  were  accused  of; 
and  they  said,  u  that  they  neither  would  depart  from  the  rela¬ 
tion  they  bare  to  them,  nor  had  they  built  the  altar  by  way 
of  innovation :  that  they  owned  one  and  the  same  common 
God  with  all  the  Hebrews,  and  that  brazen  altar  which  was 
before  the  tabernacle,  on  which  they  would  offer  their  sacri¬ 
fices  :  that  as  to  the  altar  they  had  raised,  on  account  of 
which  they  were  thus  suspected,  it  was  not  built  for  worship, 
but  that  it  might  be  a  sign  and  a  monument  for  our  relation  to 
you  for  ever,  and  necessary  caution  to  us  to  act  wisely,  and  to 
continue  in  the  laws  of  our  country,  but  not  an  handle  for 
transgressing  them,  as  you  suspect ;  and  let  God  be  our  au¬ 
thentic  witness,  that  this  was  the  occasion  of  our  building  this 
altar:  whence  we  beg  you  will  have  a  better  opinion  of  us, 
and  do  not  impute  such  a  thing  to  11s  as  would  render  any  of 
the  posterity  of  Abraham  well  worthy  of  perdition,  in  case 
they  attempt  to  bring  in  new  rites,  and  such  as  are  different 
from  our  usual  practices.” 

28.  When  they  had  made  this  answer,  and  Phineas  had 
commended  them  for  it,  he  came  to  Joshua,  and  explained 
before  the  people  what  answer  they  had  received:  now  Jo¬ 
shua  was  glad  that  he  was  under  no  necessity  of  setting  them 
in  array,  or  of  leading  them  to  shed  blood,  and  make  war 
against  men  of  their  own  kindred  ;  and,  accordingly,  he  offer¬ 
ed  sacrifices  of  thanksgiving  to  God  for  the  same  :  so  Joshua 
after  that  dissolved  the  great  assembly  of  the  people,  and  sent 
them  to  their  own  inheritances,  while  he  himself  lived  in 
Shechem. 

But  in  the  twentieth  year  after  this,  when  he  was  very  old, 
he  sent  for  those  of  the  greatest  dignity  in  the  several  cities, 
with  those  in  authority,  and  the  senate,  and  as  many  of  the 
common  people  as  could  be  present ;  and  when  they  were 
come,  he  put  them  in  mind  of  all  the  benefits  God  had  be¬ 
stowed  on  them,  which  could  not  but  be  a  great  many,  since 
from  a  low  estate  they  were  advanced  to  so  great  a  degree  of 
glory  and  plenty;  and  exhorted  them  to  take  notice  of  the 
intentions  of  God,  which  had  been  so  gracious  towards  them  ; 
and  told  them,  that  the  Deity  would  continue  their  friend  by 
nothing  else  but  their  piety  :  and  that  it  was  proper  for  him, 
now  he  was  about  to  depart  out  of  this  life,  to  leave  such  an 
admonition  to  them,  and  he  desired  that  they  would  keep  in 
memory  this  his  exhortation  to  them. 

29.  So  Joshua,  when  he  had  thus  discoursed  to  them,  died 
having  lived  an  hundred  and  ten  years ;  forty  of  which  he 
lived  with  Moses,  in  order  to  learn  what  might  be  for  his  ad¬ 
vantage  afterwards.  He  also  became  their  commander  after 


308 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  V 


his  death  for  twenty-five  years.  He  was  a  man  that  wanted 
not  wisdom,  nor  eloquence,  to  declare  his  intentions  to  the 
people,  but  very  eminent  on  both  accounts.  He  was  of  great 
courage  and  magnanimity  in  action  and  in  dangers,  and  very 
sagacious  in  procuring  the  peace  of  the  people,  and  of  great 
virtue  at  all  proper  seasons.  He  was  buried  in  the  city  Tim- 
nah,  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim.  #  A  bout  the  same  time  died 
Eleazer  the  high-priest,  leaving  the  high-priesthood  to  his  son 
Phineas.  His  monument  also  and  sepulchre  are  in  the  city 
Gabatha. 

CHAP.  II. 

How,  after  the  death  of  Joshua,  their  commander ,  the  Israel¬ 
ites  transgressed  the  laws  of  their  country ,  and  experi¬ 
enced  great  afflictions ;  and  when  there  was  a  sedition 
arisen,  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  was  destroyed ,  excepting  on¬ 
ly  six  hundred  men. 

§  1.  After  the  death  of  Joshua  and  Eleazer,  Phineas  pro¬ 
phesied  fthat  according  to  God’s  will,  they  should  commit  the 
government  to  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  that  this  tribe  should 
destroy  the  race  of  the  Canaanites,  for  then  the  people  were 
concerned  to  learn  what  was  the  will  of  God.  They  also 


*  Since  not  only  Procopius  and  Suidas,  but  an  earlier  author,  Moses 
Cliorenensis,  p.  52,  53,  and  perhaps  from  this  original  author  Mariba 
Catina,  one  as  old  as  Alexander  the  Great,  sets  down  the  famous  inscrip¬ 
tion  at  Tangier  concerning  the  Old  Canaanites  driven  outof  Palestine 
by  Joshua,  take  it  here  in  that  author’sown  words:  “  We  are  those  ex¬ 
iles  that  were  governors  of  the  Canaanites,  but  have  been  driven  away 
by  Joshua  the  robber,  and  are  come  to  inhabit  here.”  See  the  note  there 
Noris  it  unworthy  of  our  notice  what  Moses  Chorenesis  adds,  p.  53,  and 
this  upon  a  diligent  examination,  viz.  that  “one  of  those  eminent  men 
among  the  Canaanites  came  at  the  same  time  into  Armenia,  and  found¬ 
ed  the  Genthunian  family  or  tribe;  and  that  this  was  confirmed  by  the 
manners  of  (lie  same  family  or  tribe,  as  being  like  those  of  the  Canaan¬ 
ites.” 

1  By  prophesying,  when  spoken  of  an  high-priest,  Josephus  both  here 
and  frequently  elsewhere,  means  no  more  than  consulting  God  by  Uritn, 
which  the  reader  is  still  to  bear  in  mind  upon  all  occasions  And  if  St. 
John,  who  was  cotemporary  with  Josephus,  and  of  the  same  country, 
made  use  of  his  style,  when  he  says,  that  Caiphas,  being  higli  priesl  that 
year,  prophesied  that  Jesus  should  die  for  that  nation,  and  not  for  that  na¬ 
tion  only,  but  that  also  he  should  gather  together  in  one  the  children  of  God 
that  vjere  scattered  abroad,  xi.  51,  52,  he  may  possibly  mean,  that  this 
was  revealed  to  the  high-priest  by  an  extraordinary  voice  from  between 
the  cherubim,  when  he  had  his  breast-plate  of  Urim  and  Thummim  on, 
before  or  in  the  most  holy  place  of  the  temple,  which  was  no  other  than 
the  oracle  of  Urim  and  Thummim.  Of  which  above  ill  the  note  on 
Antiq.  B.  iii.  ch.viii.  §  9. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


309 


Chop.  II. 

took  to  their  assistance  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  but  upon  this 
condition,  that  when  those  that  had  been  tributary  to  the  tribe 
of  Judah  should  be  slain,  they  should  do  the  like  for  the  tribe 
of  Simeon. 

2.  But  the  affairs  of  the  Canaanites  were  at  this  time  in  a 
flourishing  condition,  and  they  expected  the  Israelites  with  a 
great  army  at  the  city  Bezek,  having  put  the  government  into 
the  hands  of  Adonibezek  ;  which  name  denotes  the  Lord  of 
Bezek,  for  Adoni  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  is  called  Lord.  Now 
they  hoped  to  have  been  too  hard  for  the  Israelites,  because 
Joshua  was  dead  :  but  when  the  Israelites,  had  joined  battle 
with  them,  I  mean  the  two  tribes  before  mentioned,  they 
fought  gloriously,  and  slew  above  ten  thousand  of  them,  and 
put  the  rest  to  flight;  and  in  the  pursuit  they  took  Adonibe¬ 
zek,  who,  when  his  fingers  and  toes  were  cut  off  them,  said, 
“Nav,  indeed,  I  was  not  always  to  lie  concealed  from  God, 
as  I  find  by  what  I  now  endure,  while  I  have  not  been  asham¬ 
ed  to  do  the  same  to  #seventy-two  kings.”  So  they  carried 
him  alive  as  far  as  Jerusalem  ;  and  when  he  was  dead,  they 
buried  him  in  the  earth,  and  went  on  still  taking  the  cities; 
and  when  they  had  taken  the  greatest  part  of  them,  they  be¬ 
sieged  Jerusalem  :  and  when  they  had  taken  the  lower  city, 


*  This  great  number  of  72  reguli,  or  small  kings,  over  whom  Adoni- 
bezek  had  tyrannized,  and  for  which  he  was  punished  according  to  the 
lex  talionis,  as  well  as  the  31  kings  of  Canaan  subdued  by  Joshua,  and 
named  in  one  chapter.  Joshua  12,  and  32  kings,  or  royal  auxiliaries,  to 
Benhadad,  king  of  Syria,  1  Kiugs  xx.  1.  Antiq.  B  viii  cb  xiv.  §  1,  inti¬ 
mate  to  us  what  was  the  ancient  form  of  government  among  several  na¬ 
tions  before  the  monarchies  began,  viz.  that  every  city  or  large  town, 
with  its  neighbouring  villages,  was  a  distinct  government  by  itself; 
which  is  the  more  remarkable,  because  this  was  certainly  the  form  of  ec¬ 
clesiastical  government  that  was  settled  by  the  apostle-,,  and  preserved 
throughout  the  Christian  church  in  the  first  ages  of  Christianity.  Mr. 
Addison  if  of  opinion,  that  “  it  would  certainly  be  for  the  good  of  man¬ 
kind  to  have  all  the  mighty  empires  and  monarchies  of  the  world  can¬ 
toned  out  into  petty  states  and  principalities,  that,  like  so  many  large 
families,  might  lie  under  the  observation  of  their  proper  governors,  so. 
that  the  care  of 'he  prince  might  extend  itself  to  every  individual  person 
under  his  protection,  though  he  despairs  of  such  a  scheme  being  brought 
about,  and  thinks  that  if  it  were,  it  would  quickly  be  destroyed.”  Re¬ 
marks  on  Italy,  4to  p.  151  Nor  is  it  unfit  to  be  observed  here,  that  the 
Armenian  records,  though  they  give  us  the  history  of  39  of  their  ancient- 
est  heroes  or  governors  after  the  flood,  before  the  days  of  Sardanapalus, 
had  no  proper  king  till  the  40th  Paraerus.  See  Moses  Chorenensis,  p. 
55.  And  that  Almighty  God  does  not  approve  of  such  absolute  or  ty¬ 
rannical  monarchies,  any  one  may  learn  that  reads  Deut.  xvii.  14 — 20, 
and  1  Sam.  viii.  1 — 22,  although  if  such  kings  are  set  up  as  own  him  for 
their  supreme  king,  and  aim  to  govern  according  to  his  laws,  he  hath  ad¬ 
mitted  of  them,  and  protected  them  and  their  subjects  in  all  generations. 


310 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  V. 


which  was  not  under  a  considerable  time,  they  slew  all  the 
inhabitants  ;  but  the  upper  city  was  not  to  be  taken  without 
great  difficulty,  through  the  strength  of  its  walls,  and  the  na¬ 
ture  of  the  place. 

3.  For  which  reason  they  removed  their  camp  to  Hebron’; 
and  when  they  had  taken  it,  they  slew  all  the  inhabitants. 
There  were  till  then  left  the  race  of  giants,  who  had  bodies 
so  large,  and  countenances  so  entirely  different  from  other 
men,  that  they  were  surprizing  to  the  sight,  and  terrible  to 
the  hearing.  The  bones  of  these  men  are  still  shown  to  this 
very  day,  unlike  to  any  credible  relations  of  other  men.  Now 
they  gave  this  city  to  the  Levites  as  an  extraordinary  reward, 
with  the  suburbs  of  twro  thousand  cities  ;  but  the  land  thereto 
belonging  they  gave  as  a  free  gift  to  Caleb  ;  according  to  the 
injunctions  of  Moses.  This  Caleb  was  one  of  the  spies  which 
Moses  sent  into  the  land  of  Canaan.  They  also  gave  land  for 
habitation  to  the  posterity  of  Jethro,  the  Midianite,  who  was 
the  father-in-law  to  Moses,  for  they  had  left  their  own  coun¬ 
try,  and  followed  them,  and  accompanied  them  in  the  wilder¬ 
ness. 

4.  Now  the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Simeon  took  the  cities 
which  were  in  the  mountainous  part  of  Canaan,  as  also  Aske- 
lon  and  Ashdod,  of  those  that  lay  near  the  sea;  but  Gaza  and 
Ekron  escaped  them,  for  they,  lying  in  a  flat  country,  and 
having  a  great  number  of  chariots,  they  sorely  galled  those 
that  attacked  them  :  so  these  tribes,  when  they  were  grown 
very  rich  by  this  war,  retired  to  their  own  cities,  and  laid 
aside  their  weapons  of  war. 

5.  But  the  Benjamites,  to  whom  belonged  Jerusalem,  per 
mitted  its  inhabitants  to  pay  tribute;  so  they  all  left  off,  the 
one  to  kill,  and  the  other  to  expose  themselves  to  danger,  and 
had  time  to  cultivate  the  ground.  The  rest  of  the  tribes  imi¬ 
tated  that  of  Benjamin,  and  did  the  same ;  and  contenting 
themselves'  with  the  tributes  that  were  paid  them,  permitted 
the  Canaanites  to  live  in  peace. 

6.  However,  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  when  they  besieged 
Bethel,  made  no  advance,  nor  performed  any  thing  worthy 
of  the  time  they  spent,  and  of  the  pains  took  about  that 
siege,  yet  did  they  persist  in  it,  still  sitting  down  before  the 
city,  though  they  endured  great  trouble  thereby :  but  after 
some  time,  they  caught  one  of  the  citizens  that  came  to 
them  to  get  necessaries,  and  they  gave  him  some  assurances’ 
that  if  he  would  deliver  up  the  city  to  them,  they  would  pre- 
serve  him  and  his  kindred;  so  he  sware,  that  upon  those 
terms  he  would  put  the  city  into  their  hands.  Accordingly, 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


311 


Chap.  II. 

lie  that  thus  betrayed  the  city  was  preserved,  with  his  fami¬ 
ly;  and  the  Israelites  slew  all  the  inhabitants  and  retained 
the  city  for  themselves. 

7-  After  this,  the  Israelites  grew  effeminate  as  to  fighting 
any  more  against  their  enemies,  but  applied  themselves  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  land,  which  producing  them  great  plen¬ 
ty  and  riches  they  neglected  the  regular  disposition  of  their 
settlement,  and  indulged  themselves  in  luxury  and  pleasures  ; 
nor  were  they  any  longer  careful  to  hear  the  laws  that  be¬ 
longed  to  their  political  government :  whereupon  God  was 
provoked  to  anger,  and  put  them  in  mind,  first,  how  contra¬ 
ry  to  his  directions  they  had  spared  the  Canaanites,  and,  af¬ 
ter  that,  how  those  Canaanites,  as  opportunity  served,  used 
them  very  barbarously.  But  the  Israelites,  though  they 
were  in  heaviness  at  these  admonitions  from  God,  }ret  were 
they  still  very  unwilling  to  go  to  war;  and  since  they  got 
large  tributes  from  the  Canaanites,  and  were  indisposed  for 
taking  pains  by  their  luxury,  they  suffered  their  aristocracy 
to  be  corrupted  also,  and  did  not  ordain  themselves  a  senate, 
nor  any  other  such  magistrates  as  their  laws  had  formerly 
required,  but  they  were  very  much  given  to  cultivate  their 
fields,  in  order  to  get  wealth  ;  which  great  indolence  of  theirs 
brought  a  terrible  sedition  upon  them,  and  they  proceeded 
so  far  as  to  fight  one  against  another,  from  the  following  oc¬ 
casion. 

8.  There  *was  a  Levite,  a  man  of  a  vulgar  family,  that 
belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  and  dwelt  therein  ;  this 
man  married  a  wife  from  Bethlehem,  which  is  a  place  be¬ 
longing  to  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Now  he  was  very  fond  of  his 
wife, and  overcome  with  her  beauty;  but  he  was  unhappy  in 
this,  that  he  did  not  meet  with  the  like  return  of  affection 
from  her,  for  she  was  averse  to  him,  which  did  more  inflame 
his  passion  for  her,  so  that  they  quarrelled  one  with  another 
perpetually  ;  and  at  last  the  woman  was  so  disgusted  at  these 
quarrels,  that  she  left  her  husband,  and  went  to  her  parents 
in  the  fourth  month.  The  husband  being  very  uneasy  at  this 
her  departure,  and  that  out  of  his  fondness  for  her,  came  to 
his  father  and  mother-in-law,  and  made  up  their  quarrels,  and 
was  reconciled  to  her,  and  lived  with  them  there  four  days, 

*  Jostphus's  early  date  of  this  history  before  the  beginning  of  the 
Judges,  or  when  there  was  no  king  in  Israel,  Judges  six.  1,  is  strongly 
confirmed  by  the  large  number  of  Benjamites,  both  in  the  days  of  Asa 
and  Jehoshaphat,  2  Ciiron.  xiv.  8,  and  xvi.  1~.  who  yet  were  here  reduc¬ 
ed  to  600  men  :  nor  can  those  numbers  be  at  all  supposed  genuine,  if 
they  were  reduced  so  late  as  the  end  of  the  Judges,  where  our  other 
copies  place  this  reduction. 


312 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  V. 


as  being  kindly  treated  by  her  parents.  On  the  fifth  day  he 
resolved  to  go  home,  and  went  away  in  the  evening:  for  his 
wife’s  parents  were  loth  to  part  with  their  daughter,  and 
delayed  the  time  till  the  day  was  gone.  Now  they  had  one 
servant  that  followed  them,  and  an  ass  on  which  the  woman 
rode;  and  when  they  were  near  Jerusalem,  having  gone  al¬ 
ready  thirty  furlongs,  the  servant  advised  them  to  take  up  their 
lodgings  somewhere,  lest  some  misfortune  should  befall  them  if 
they  travelled  in  the  night,  especially  since  they  were  not  far 
off  enemies,  that  season  often  giving  reason  for  suspicion  of 
dangers  from  even  such  as  are  friends;  but  the  husband  was 
not  pleased  with  this  advice,  nor  was  he  willing  to  take  up 
his  lodgings  among  strangers,  for  the  city  belonged  to  the  Ca- 
naanites,  but  desired  rather  to  go  twenty  furlongs  farther,  and 
so  to  take  their  lodgings  in  some  Israelite  city.  Accordingly, 
he  obtained  his  purpose,  and  came  to  Gibeah,  a  city  of  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  when  it  was  just  dark:  and  while  no  one 
that  lived  in  the  market-place  invited  him  to  lodge  with  him, 
there  came  an  old  man  out  of  the  field,  one  that  was  indeed 
of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  but  resided  in  Gibeah,  and  met  him, 
and  asked  him  who  he  was ;  and  for  what  reason  he  came 
thither  so  late;  and  why  he  was  looking  out  for  provisions 
for  supper  when  it  was  dark?  To  which  he  replied,  that  he 
was  a  Levite,  and  was  bringing  his  wife  from  her  parents,  and 
was  going  home;  but  he  told  him  his  habitation  was  in  the 
tribe  of  Ephraim ;  so  the  old  man,  as  well  because  of  their 
kindred,  as  because  they  lived  in  the  same  tribe,  and  also  be¬ 
cause  they  had  thus  accidentally  met  together,  and  took  him 
in  to  lodge  with  him.  Now'  certain  young  men,  of  the  inhabi¬ 
tants  of  Gibeah,  having  seen  the  woman  in  the  market-place, 
and  admiring  her  beauty,  when  they  understood  that  she  lodg¬ 
ed  with  the  old  man,  came  to  the  doors,  as  contemning  the 
weakness  and  fewness  of  the  old  man’s  family  ;  and  when  the 
old  man  desired  them  to  go  away,  and  not  to  offer  any  vio¬ 
lence  or  abuse  there,  they  desired  him  to  yield^them  up  the 
strange  woman,  and  then  he  should  have  no  harm  done  to  him  : 
and  when  the  old  man  alleged,  that  the  Levite  was  of  his  kin¬ 
dred,  and  that  they  would  be  guilty  of  horrid  wickedness  if 
they  suffered  themselves  to  be  overcome  by  their  pleasures, 
and  so  offend  against  their  laws,  they  despised  his  righteous 
admonition  and  laughed  him  to  scorn.  They  also  threatened 
to  kill  him  if  he  became  an  obstacle  to  their  inclinations ; 
whereupon  when  he  found  himself  in  great  distress,  and  yet 
was  not  willing  to  overlook  his  guests,  and  see  them  abused, 
he  produced  his  own  daughter  ;  and  told  them,  that  it  was  a 
smaller  breach  of  the  law,  to  satisfy  their  lust  upon  her,  than 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


313 


Chap.  II. 

to  abuse  his  guests,  supposing  that  he  himself  should  by  this 
means  prevent  any  injury  to  be  done  to  those  guests.  When 
they  no  way  abated  of  their  earnestness  for  the  strange  wo¬ 
man,  but  insisted  absolutely  on  their  desire  to  have  her,  he 
entreated  them  not  to  perpetrate  any  such  act  of  injustice; 
but  they  proceeded  to  take  her  away  by  force,  and,  indulging 
still  more  the  violence  of  their  inclinations,  they  took  the 
woman  away  to  their  house,  and  when  they  had  satisfied  their 
lust  upon  her  the  whole  night,  they  let  her  go  about  day¬ 
break.  So  she  came  to  the  place  where  she  had  been  en¬ 
tertained  under  great  afflictions  at  what  had  happened,  and 
was  very  sorrowful  upon  occasion  of  what  she  had  suffered, 
and  durst  not  look  her  husb3nd  in  the  face  for  shame,  for  she 
concluded  that  he  would  never  forgive  her  for  what  she  had 
done,  so  she  fell  down  and  gave  up  the  ghost ;  but  her  hus¬ 
band  supposed  that  his  wife  was  only  fast  asleep,  and  thinking 
nothing  of  a  more  melancholy  nature  had  happened,  endea¬ 
voured  to  raise  her  up,  resolving  to  speak  comfortably  to  her, 
since  she  did  not  voluntarily  expose  herself  to  these  men’s 
lust,  but  was  forced  away  to  their  house ;  but  as  soon  as  he 
perceived  she  was  dead,  he  acted  as  prudently  as  the  great¬ 
ness  of  his  misfortunes  would  admit,  and  laid  his  dead  wife 
upon  the  beast,  and  carried  her  home  ;  and  cutting  her  limb 
by  limb  into  twelve  pieces,  he  sent  them  to  every  tribe,  and 
gave  it  in  charge  to  those  that  carried  them,  to  inform  the 
tribes  of  those  that  were  the  causes  of  hisvvife’s  death  and 
of  the  violence  they  had  offered  to  her. 

9.  Upon  this  the  people  were  greatly  disturbed  at  what 
they  saw,  and  at  what  they  heard,  as  never  having  had  the 
experience  of  such  a  thing  before,  so  they  gathered  them¬ 
selves  to  Shiloh,  out  of  a  prodigious  and  a  just  anger,  and  as¬ 
sembling  in  a  great  congregation  before  the  tabernacle,  they 
immediately  resolved  to  take  arms,  and  to  treat  the  inhabi¬ 
tants  of  Gibeah  as  enemies;  but  the  senate  restrained  them 
from  doing  so,  and  persuaded  them,  that  they  ought  not  so 
hastily  to  make  war  upon  the  people  of  the  same  nation  with 
them,  before  they  discoursed  unto  them  by  words  concerning 
the  accusation  laid  against  them,  it  being  a  part  of  their  law  that 
they  should  not  bring  an  army  against  foreigners  themselves, 
when  they  appear  to  have  been  injurious,  without  sending  an 
ambassage  first,  and  trying  thereby  whether  they  will  repent 
or  not ;  and,  accordingly,  they  exhorted  them  to  do  what  they 
ought  to  do  in  obedience  to  their  laws,  that  is,  to  send  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Gibeah,  to  know  whether  they  would  deliver 
up  the  offenders  to  them,  and  if  they  delivered  them  up,  to  rest 
satisfied  with  the  punishment  of  those  offenders,  but  if  they 
vol.  i.  D  d 


314  ANTIQUITIES  Book  V, 

despised  the  message  that  was  sent  them,  to  punish  them,  by 
taking  up  arms  against  them.  Accordingly  they  sent  tathe 
inhabitants  of  Gibeah,  and  accused  the  )  oung  men  of  the 
crimes  committed  in  the  affair  of  the  Levite’s  wife,  and  re¬ 
quired  of  them  those,  that  had  done  what  was  contrary  to  the 
law,  that  they  might  be  punished,  as  having  justly  deserved 
to  die  for  what  they  had  done;  but  the  inhabitants  of  Gibeah 
would  not  deliver  up  the  young  men,  and  thought  it  too  re¬ 
proachful  to  them,  out  of  fear  of  war,  to  submit  to  other 
men’s  demands  upon  them,  vaunting  themselves  to  be  no  way 
inferior  to  any  in  war,  neither  in  their  number  nor  in  cour¬ 
age.  The  rest  of  their  tribe  were  also  making  great  prepa¬ 
ration  for  war,  for  they  were  so  insolently  mad  as  also  to  re¬ 
solve  to  repel  force  by  force. 

10.  When  it  was  related  to  the  Israelites  what  the  inha¬ 
bitants  of  Gibeah  had  resolved  upon,  they  took  their  oath 
that  no  one  of  them  would  give  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  a 
Benjamite,  but  make  war  with  greater  fury  against  them  than 
we  have  learned  our  forefathers  made  war  against  the  Canaan- 
ites,  and  sent  out  presently  an  army  of  four  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  against  them,  while  the  Benjamites  army  was  twenty- 
five  thousand  six  hundred :  five  hundred  of  which  were  ex¬ 
cellent  at  slinging  stones  with  their  left  hands,  insomuch,  that 
when  the  battle  was  joined  at  Gibeah,  the  Benjamites  beat 
the  Israelites,  and  of  them  there  fell  two  thousand  men  ;  and 
probably  more  had  been  destroyed,  had  not  the  night  come 
on  and  prevented  it,  and  broken  off  the  fight :  so  the  Benja¬ 
mites  returned  to  the  city  with  joy,  and  the  Israelites  return¬ 
ed  to  their  camp  iqa  great  fright  at  what  had  happened.  On 
the  next  day,  w  hen  they  fought  again,  the  Benjamites  beat 
them,  and  eighteen  thousand  of  the  Israelites  wrere  slain,  and 
the  rest  deserted  their  camp  out  of  fear  of  a  great  slaughter. 
So  they  came  to  #Bethel,  a  city  that  was  near  their  camp, 
and  fasted  on  the  next  day ;  and  besought  God  by  Phineas 
the  high-priest,  that  his  wrath  against  them  might  cease,  and 
that  he  would  be  satisfied  with  these  two  defeats,  and  give 
them  the  victory  and  power  over  their  enemies.  Accord¬ 
ingly,  God  promised  them  so  to  do  by  the  prophesying  of  Phi¬ 
neas. 

11.  When  therefore,  they  had  divided  the  army  into  two 


*  Joeephus  seems  here  to  have  made  a  small  mistake,  when  he  took 
the  Hebrew  word  Beth-El,  which  denotes  the/iowse  of  God,  or  the  Ta¬ 
bernacle,  Judges  xx.  18,  for  the  proper  name  of  a  place,  Bethel,  it  no  wav- 
appearing  that  the  tabernacle  was  even  at  Bethel ;  only  so  far  it  is  true, 
that  Shiloh,  the  place  of  the  tabernacle,  in  the  days  of  the  Judges,  was 
not  far  from  Bethel. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


S15 


C hap.  II. 

parts,  they  laid  the  one  half  of  them  in  ambush  about  the  city 
Gibeah  by  night,  while  the  other  half  attacked  the  Benja¬ 
mites,  who  retiring  upon  the  assault,  the  Benjamites  pursued 
them,  while  the  Hebrews  retired  by  slow  degrees,  as  very 
desirous  to  draw  them  entirely  from  the  city,  and  the  other 
followed  them  as  they  retired,  till  both  the  old  men  and  young 
men  that  were  left  in  the  city,  as  too  weak  to  fight,  came 
running  out  together  with  them,  as  willing  to  bring  their  ene¬ 
mies  under.  However,  when  they  were  a  great  way  from 
the  city  the  Hebrews  ran  away  no  longer,  but  turned  back  to 
fight  them,  and  lift  up  the  signal  they  had  agreed  on  to  those 
that  lay  in  ambush,  who  rose  up,  and  with  a  great  noise  fell 
upon  the  enemy.  Now,  as  soon  as  ever  they  perceived 
themselves  to  be  deceived,  they  knew  not  what  to  do,  and 
when  they  were  driven  into  a  certain  hollow  place  which 
was  in  a  valley,  they  were  shot  at  by  those  that  encompass¬ 
ed  them  till  they  were  all  destroyed,  excepting  six  hundred, 
which  formed  themselves  into  a  close  body  of  men,  and  forc¬ 
ed  their  passage  through  the  midst  of  their  enemies,  and  fled 
to  the  neighbouring  mountains,  and  seizing  upon  them,  re¬ 
mained  there;  but  the  rest  of  them,  being  about  twenty- 
five  thousand,  were  slain.  Then  did  the  Israelites  burn  Gi¬ 
beah,  and  slew  the  women,  and  the  males  that  were  under 
age;  and  did  the  same  also  to  the  other  cities  of  the  Benja¬ 
mites.  And  indeed  they  were  enraged  to  that  degree,  that 
they  sent  twelve  thousand  men  out  of  the  army,  and  gave 
them  orders  to  destroy  Jabesh  Gilead,  because  it  did  not  join 
with  them  in  fighting  against  the  Benjamites.  Accordingly, 
those  that  were  sent  slew  the  men  of  war,  with  their  chil¬ 
dren  and  wives,  excepting  four  hundred  virgins.  To  such  a 
degree  had  they  proceeded  in  their  anger,  because  they  not 
only  had  the  suffering  of  the  Levite’s  wife  to  avenge,  but  the 
slaughter  of  their  own  soldiers. 

12.  However,  they  afterward  were  sorry  for  the  calamity 
they  had  brought  upon  the  Benjamites,  and  appointed  a  fast 
on  that  account,  although  they  supposed  those  men  had  suf¬ 
fered  justly  for  their  offence  against  the  laws ;  so  they  recall¬ 
ed  by  their  ambassadors  those  six  hundred  which  had  escap¬ 
ed.  These  had  seated  themselves  on  a  certain  rock  called 
Rimmon ,  which  was  in  the  wilderness ;  so  the  ambassadors 
lamented  not  only  the  disaster  that  had  befallen  the  Benja¬ 
mites,  but  themselves  also,  by  this  destruction  of  their  kin¬ 
dred,  and  persuaded  them  to  take  it  patiently,  and  to  come 
and  unite  with  them,  and  not,  so  far  as  in  them  lay,  to  give 
their  suffrage  to  the  utter  destruction  of  the  tribe  of  Benja¬ 
min;  and  said  to  them,  “We  give  you  leave  to  take  the 


316 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  V. 


whole  land  of  Benjamin  to  yourselves,  and  as  much  prey  as 
you  are  able  to  carry  away  with  you.”  So  these  men  with 
sorrow  confessed,  that  what  had  been  done  was  according  to 
the  decree  of  God,  and  happened  for  their  own  wickedness, 
and  assented  to  those  that  invited  them,  and  came  down  to 
their  own  tribe.  The  Israelites  also  gave  them  the  four  hun¬ 
dred  virgins  of  Jabesh  Gilead  for  wives ;  but  as  to  the  re¬ 
maining  two  hundred,  they  deliberated  about  it  how  they  might 
compass  wives  enough  for  them,  and  that  they  might  have 
children  by  them  :  and  whereas  they  had,  before  the  war  be* 
gan,  taken  an  oath,  that  no  one  should  give  his  daughter  to 
wife  to  a  Benjamite,  some  advised  them  to  have  no  regard  to 
what  they  had  sworn,  because  the  oath  had  not  been  taken 
advisedly  and  judiciously,  but  in  a  passion,  and  thought  that 
they  should  do  nothing  against  God,  if  they  were  able  to  save 
a  whole  tribe  which  was  in  danger  of  perishing,  and  that  per¬ 
jury  was  then  a  sad  and  dangerous  thing,  not  when  it  is  done 
out  of  necessity,  but  when  it  is  done  with  a  wicked  intention. 
But  when  the  senate  were  affrighted  at  the  very  name  of  per¬ 
jury,  a  certain  person  told  them,  that  he  could  show  them  a 
way  whereby  they  might  procure  the  Benjamites  wives 
enough,  and  yet  keep  their  oath.  They  asked  him  what  his 
proposal  was  ?  He  said,  that  u  three  times  in  a  year,  when 
we  meet  in  Shiloh,  our  wives  and  our  daughters  accompany 
us,  let  then  the  Benjamites  be  allowed  to  steal  away,  and  mar¬ 
ry  such  women  as  they  can  catch,  while  we  will  neither  in¬ 
cite  them  nor  forbid  them ;  and  when  their  parents  take  it 
ill,  and  desire  us  to  inflict  punishment  upon  them,  we  will 
tell  them,  that  they  were  themselves  the  cause  of  what  had 
happened,  by  neglecting  to  guard  their  daughters,  and  that 
they  ought  not  to  be  over  angry  at  the  Benjamites,  since  that 
anger  was  permitted  to  rise  too  high  already.”  So  the  Is¬ 
raelites  were  persuaded  to  follow  this  advice;  and  decreed 
that  the  Benjamites  should  be  allowed  thus  to  steal  themselves 
wives.  So  when  the  festival  was  coming  on,  these  two  hun¬ 
dred  Benjamites  lay  in  ambush  before  the  city,  by  two  and 
three  together,  and  waited  for  the  coming  of  the  virgins,  in 
the  vineyards  and  other  places,  where  they  could  lie  conceal¬ 
ed.  Accordingly,  the  virgins  came  along  playing,  and  sus¬ 
pecting  nothing  of  what  was  coming  upon  them,  and  walked 
after  an  unguarded  manner,  so  those  that  lay  scattered  in  the 
road  rose  up,  and  caught  hold  of  them  ;  by  this  means  these 
Benjamites  got  them  wives,  and  fell  to  agriculture,  and  took 
good  care  to  recover  their  former  happy  state.  And  thus  was 
this  tribe  of  the  Benjamites,  after  they  had  been  in  danger  of 
entirely  perishing,  saved  in  the  manner  fore-mentioned,  by 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


317 


Chap.  III. 

the  wisdom  of  the  Israelites  ;  and  accordingly,  it  presently 
flourished  and  soon  increased  to  be  a  multitude,  and  came  to 
enjoy  all  other  degrees  of  happiness.  And  such  was  the  con 
elusion  of  this  war. 


CHAP.  III. 

How  the  Israelites ,  after  this  misfortune ,  grew  wicked ,  and 
served  the  Assyrians,  and  how  God  delivered  them  by 
Othniel,  who  ruled  over  them  forty  years. 

§  1.  Now  it  happened  that  the  tribe  of  Dan  suffered  in  like 
manner  with  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  :  and  it  came  to  do  so  on 
the  occasion  following.  When  the  Israelites  had  already  left 
off  the  exercise  of  their  arms  for  war,  and  were  intent  upon 
their  husbandry,  the  Canaanites  despised  them,  and  brought 
together  an  army,  not  because  they  expected  to  suffer  by 
them,  but  because  they  had  a  mind  to  have  a  sure  prospect 
of  treating  the  Hebrews  ill  when  they  pleased,  and  might 
thereby  for  the  time  to  come  dwell  in  their  own  cities  the 
more  securely  :  they  prepared,  therefore,  their  chariots,  and 
gathered  their  soldiery  together ;  their  cities  also  combined 
together,  and  drew  over  to  them  Askelon  and  Ekron,  which 
were  within  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  many  more  of  those  that 
lay  in  the  plain.  They  also  forced  the  Danites  to  fly  into 
the  mountainous  country,  qnd  left  them  not  the  least  portion 
of  the  plain  country  to  set  their  foot  on.  Since  then  these 
Danites  were  not  able  to  fight  them,  and  had  not  land  enough 
to  sustain  them,  they  sent  five  of  their  men  into  the  mid-land 
country  to  see  for  a  land  to  which  they  might  remove  their 
habitation  ;  so  these  men  went  as  far  as  the  neighbourhood 
of  Mount  Libanus,  and  the  fountains  of  the  lesser  Jordan,  at 
the  great  plain  of  Sidon,  a  day’s  journey  from  the  city;  and 
when  they  had  taken  a  view  of  the  land,  and  found  it  to  be 
good,  and  exceeding  fruitful,  they  acquainted  their  tribe  with 
it,  whereupon  they  made  an  expedition  with  the  army,  and 
built  there  the  city  Dan,  of  the  same  name  with  the  son  of 
Jacob,  and  of  the  same  name  with  their  own  tribe. 

2.  The  Israelites  grew  so  indolent,  and  unready  of  taking 
pains  that  misfortunes  came  heavier  upon  them,  which  also 
proceeded  in  part  from  their  contempt  of  the  divine  worship; 
for  when  they  had  once  fallen  off  from  the  regularity  of  their 
political  government,  they  indulged  themselves  farther  in 
living  according  to  their  own  pleasure,  and  according  to  their 
own  will,  till  they  were  full  of  the  evil  doings  that  were  com¬ 
mon  among  the  Canaanites.  God,  therefore,  was  angry  with 

Dd  2 


318 


Booh  V. 


ANTIQUITIES 

them,  and  they  lost  that  their  happy  state,  which  they  had  ob¬ 
tained  by  innumerable  labours,  by  their  luxury ;  for  when 
Chusan,  king  of  the  Assyrians,  had  made  war  against  them, 
they  lost  many  of  their  soldiers  in  the  battle,  and  when  they 
were  besieged,  they  were  taken  by  force ;  nay  there  were 
some  who,  out  of  fear,  voluntarily  submitted  to  him,  and 
though  the  tribute  laid  upon  them  was  more  than  they  could 
bear,  yet  did  they  pay  it,  and  underwent  all  sort  of  oppression 
for  eighty  years ;  after  which  time  they  were  freed  from  them 
in  the  following  manner. 

3.  There  was  one  whose  name  was  Othniel,  the  son  of  Ke- 
naz,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  an  active  man,  and  of  great  cour¬ 
age,  he  had  an  admonition  from  God  not  to  overlook  the  Is¬ 
raelites  in  such  a  distress  as  they  were  now  in,  but  to  endea¬ 
vour  boldly  to  gain  them  their  liberty  :  so  when  he  had  pro¬ 
cured  some  to  assist  him  in  this  dangerous  undertaking,  (and 
few  they  were,  who,  either  out  of  shame  at  their  present 
circumstances,  or  out  of  a  desire  of  changing  them,  could  be 
prevailed  on  to  assist  him,)  he  first  of  all  destroyed  that  gar¬ 
rison  which  Chusan  had  set  over  them ;  but  when  it  was 
perceived  that  he  had  not  faded  in  his  first  attempt,  more  of 
the  people  came  to  his  assistance;  so  they  joined  battle  with 
the  Assyrians,  and  drove  them  entirely  before  them,  and  com¬ 
pelled  them  pass  over  the  Euphrates.  Hereupon  Othniel, 
who  had  given  such  proof  of  his  valour,  received  from  the 
multitude  authority  to  judge  the  people :  and  when  he  had 
ruled  over  them  forty  years,  he  died. 


CHAP.  IV. 

How  our  people  served  the  Moabites  eighteen  years,  and  were 
then  delivered  from  slavery  by  one  Ehud ,  who  retained 
the  dominion  eighty  years. 

§  1.  When  Othniel  was  dead  the  affairs  of  the  Israelites 
fell  again  into  disorder;  and  while  they  neither  paid  to  God 
the  honour  due  to  him,  nor  were  obedient  to  the  laws,  their 
afflictions  increased,  till  Eglon,  king  of  the  Moabites,  did  so 
greatly  despise  them  on  account  of  the  disorders  of  their  po¬ 
litical  government,  that  he  made  war  upon  them,  and  over¬ 
came  them  in  several  battles,  and  made  the  most  courageous 
to  submit,  and  entirely  subdued  their  army,  and  ordered 
them  to  pay  him  tribute.  And  when  he  had  built  him  a  roy¬ 
al  palace  at  *  Jericho  he  omitted  no  method  whereby  he 


*  It  appears  by  the  sacred  history,  Judges  i.  16.  iii.  13,  that  Eglon’s 
pavilion  or  palace,  was  at  the  city  of  Palm-trees,  as  the  place  where  Jen- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


319 


Chap.  IV. 

might  distress  them  ;  and  indeed  he  reduced  them  to  poverty 
for  eighteen  years.  But  when  God  had  once  taken  pity  of 
the  Israelites,  and  on  account  of  their  afflictions,  and  was 
moved  to  compassion  by  their  supplications  put  up  to  him, 
he  freed  them  from  the  hard  usage  they  had  met  with  under 
the  Moabites.  This  liberty  he  procured  for  them  in  the  fol¬ 
lowing  manner. 

2.  There  was  a  young  man  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  whose 
name  was  Ehud,  the  son  of  Gera,  a  man  of  very  great  cour¬ 
age  in  bold  undertakings,  and  of  a  very  strong  body,  fit  for 
hard  labour,  but  best  skilled  in  using  his  left  hand,  in  which 
was  his  whole  strength  ;  and  he  also  dwelt  at  Jericho.  Now 
this  man  became  familiar  with  Eglon,  and  that  by  means  of 
presents,  with  which  he  obtained  his  favour,  and  insinuated 
himself  into  his  good  opinion,  whereby  he  was  also  beloved 
of  those  that  were  abput  the  king.  Now,  when  on  a  time, 
he  was  bringing  presents  to  the  king,  and  had  two  servants 
with  him,  he  put  a  dagger  on  his  right  thigh  secretly,  and  went 
in  to  him  :  it  was  then  summer-time,  and  the  middle  of  the 
day,  when  the  guards  were  not  strictly  on  their  watch,  both 
because  of  the  heat,  and  because  they  were  gone  to  dinner. 
So  the  young  man,  when  he  had  offered  his  presents  to  the 
king,  who  then  resided  in  a  small  parlour  that  stood  conve¬ 
niently  to  avoid  the  heat,  he  fell  into  discourse  with  him,  for 
they  were  now  alone,  the  king  having  bid  his  servants  that 
attended  him  to  go  their  ways,  because  he  had  a  mind  to  talk 
with  Ehud.  He  was  now  sitting  on  his  throne  ;  and  fear 
seized  upon  Ehud  lest  he  should  miss  his  stroke,  and  not  give 
him  a  deadly  wound,  so  he  raised  himself  up,  and  said,  he  had 
a  dream  to  impart  to  him  by  the  command  of  God  ;  upon 
which  the  king  leaped  out  of  his  throne  for  joy  of  the  dream, 
so  Ehud  smote  him  to  the  heart,  and  leaving  his  dagger  in  his 
body,  he  went  out  and  shut  the  door  after  him.  Now  the 
king’s  servants  were  very  still,  as  supposing  that  the  king  had 
composed  himself  to  sleep. 

3.  Hereupon  Ehud  informed  the  people  of  Jericho  pri¬ 
vately  of  what  he  had  done,  and  exhorted  them  to  recover 
their  liberty  ;  who  heard  him  gladly,  and  went  to  their  arms, 
and  sent  messengers  over  the  country,  that  should  sound 


cho  had  stood,  is  called  afier  its  destruction  by  Joshua,  that  is,  at  or 
nearer  the  demolished  city.  Accordingly,  Josephus  says  it  was  at  Jeri¬ 
cho,  or  rather  in  that  fine  country  of  palm-trees,  upon  or  nearer  to  the 
same  spot  upon  which  Jericho  had  formerly  stood,  and  on  which  it  was 
rebuilt  by  Hiel,  1  Kings  xvi.  34,  Our  other  copies  that  avoid  its  proper 
name  Jericho ,  and  call  it  the  dty  of  Palm  trees,  speak  here  more  accu¬ 
rately  than  Josephus, 


S20 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  V. 


trumpets  of  rams’  horns,  for  it  was  our  custom  to  call  the  peo¬ 
ple  together  by  them.  Now  the  attendants  of  Eglon  were 
ignorant  of  what  misfortune  had  befallen  him  for  a  great 
while  ;  but  towards  the  evening,  fearing  some  uncommon  ac¬ 
cident  had  happened,  they  entered  into  his  parlour,  and  when 
they  found  him  dead,  they  were  in  great  disorder,  and  knew 
not  what  to  do ;  and  before  the  guards  could  be  got  together, 
the  multitude  of  the  Israelites  came  upon  them,  so  that  some 
of  them  were  slain  immediately,  and  some  were  put  to  flight, 
and  ran  away  towards  the  country  of  Moab,  in  order  to  save 
themselves.  Their  number  was  above  ten  thousand.  The 
Israelites  seized  upon  the  ford  of  Jordan,  and  pursued  them, 
and  slew  them,  and  many  of  them  they  killed  at  the  ford,  nor 
did  one  of  them  escape  out  of  their  hands  ;  and  by  this 
means  it  was  that  the  Hebrews  freed  themselves  from  slavery 
under  the  Moabites.  Ehud  also  was  on  this  account  digni¬ 
fied  with  the  government  over  all  the  multitude,  and  died  after 
he  had  held  the  government  #eighty  years.  He  was  a  man 
worthy  of  commendation,  even  besides  what  he  deserved  for 
the  forementioned  act  of  his.  After  him  Shamgar,  the  son 
of  Anath,  was  elected  for  their  governor,  but  died  in  the  first 
year  of  his  government. 


CHAP.  V. 

How  the  Canaanites  brought  the  Israelites  under  slavery  for 
twenty  years  ;  after  which  they  were  delivered  by  Barak 
and  Deborah,  who  ruled  over  them  for  forty  years. 

^  1.  And  now  it  was  that  the  Israelites,  taking  no  warning 
by  their  former  misfortunes  to  amend  their  manners,  and  nei¬ 
ther  worshiping  God,  nor  submitting  to  the  laws,  were  brought 
under  slavery  by  Jabin,  the  king  of  the  Canaanites,  and  that 
before  they  had  a  short  breathing  time  after  the  slavery  un¬ 
der  the  Moabites :  for  this  Jabin  came  out  of  Hazor,  a  city  that 
was  situate  over  the  lake  Semechontis,  and  had  in  pay  three 
hundred  thousand  footmen,  and  ten  thousand  horsemen,  with 

*  These  80  years  for  the  goverment  of  Ehud  are  neoessary  to  Jose¬ 
phus’s  usual  large  numbers,  between  the  Exodus  and  the  building  of  the 
temple,  of  592  or  612  years,  but  not  to  the  smallest  number  of  480  years, 
1  Kings  vi.  1,  which  lessser  number  Josephus  seems  sometimes  to  have 
followed.  And  since  in  the  beginning  of  the  next  chapter  it  is  said  by 
Josephus  that  there  was  hardly  a  breathing  time  lor  the  Israelites  before 
Jabin  came  and  enslaved  them,  it  is  highly  probable  that  some  of  the 
copies  in  his  time  had  here  only  8  years  instead  of  80 ;  as  had  that  of 
Theophilus  of  Antioch,  Ad  Autolye,  L.  iii.  and  this  most  probably  from 
his  copy  of  Josephus. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


32 1 


Chap.  V. 

no  fewer  than  three  thousands  chariots.  Sisera  was  the  com¬ 
mander  of  all  his  army,  and  was  the  principal  person  in  the 
king’s  favour.  He  so  sorely  beat  the  Israelites  when  they 
fought  with  him,  that  he  ordered  them  to  pay  tribute. 

2.  So  they  continued  to  undergo  that  hardship  for  twenty 
years,  as  not  good  enough  of  themselves  to  grow  wise  by 
their  misfortunes.  God  was  willing  also  hereby  the  more  to 
subdue  their  obstinacy  and  ingratitude  towards  himself ;  so 
when  at  length  they  were  become  penitent,  and  were  so  wise 
as  to  learn  that  their  calamities  arose  from  their  contempt  of 
the  laws,  they  besought  Deborah,  a  certain  prophetess  among 
them,  (which  name  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  signifies  a  bee,)  to 
pi  ay  to  God  to  take  pity  on  them,  and  not  to  overlook  them, 
now  they  were  ruined  by  the  Canaanites.  So  God  granted 
them  deliverance,  and  chose  them  a  general,  Barak,  one  that 
was  of  the  tribe  of  Naphthali,  (now  Barak  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue  signifies  lightning.) 

3.  So  Deborah  sent  for  Barak,  and  bid  him  choose  him  out 
ten  thousand  young  men  to  go  against  the  enemy,  because 
God  had  said  that  that  number  was  sufficient,  and  promised 
them  victory.  But  when  Barak  said,  that  he  would  not  be 
the  general,  unless  she  would  also  go  as  a  general  with  him, 
she  had  indignation  at  what  he  said,  and  replied  “  Thou,  O 
Barak,  deliverest  up  meanly  that  authority  which  God  hath 
given  thee,  into  the  hands  of  a  woman,  and  I  do  not  reject  it.,J 
So  they  collected  ten  thousand  men,  and  pitched  their  camp 
at  mount  Tabor,  where,  at  the  king’s  command,  Sisera  met 
them,  and  pitched  his  camp  not  far  from  the  enemy  ;  where- 
upon  the  Israelites,  and  Barak  himself,  were  so  affrighted  at 
the  multitude  of  those  enemies,  that  they  were  resolved  to 
march  off,  had  not  Deborah  retained  them,  and  commanded 
them  to  fight  the  enemy  that  very  day,  for  that  they  should 
conquer  them,  and  God  would  be  their  assistance. 

4.  So  the  battle  began ;  and  when  they  were  come  to  a 
close  fight,  there  came  down  from  heaven  a  great  storm,  with 
a  vast  quantity  of  rain  and  hail,  and  the  wind  blew  the  rain 
in  the  face  of  the  Canaanites,  and  so  darkened  their  eyes,  that 
their  arrows  and  slings  were  of  no  advantage  to  them  ;  nor 
would  the  coldness  of  the  air  permit  the  soldiers  to  make  use 
of  their  swords,  while  this  storm  did  not  so  much  incommode 
the  Israelites,  because  it  came  in  their  backs.  They  also 
took  such  courage,  upon  the  apprehension  that  God  was  as¬ 
sisting  them,  that  they  fell  upon  the  very  midst  of  their  ene¬ 
mies,  and  slew  a  great  number  of  them,  so  that  some  of  them 
fell  by  the  Israelites,  some  fell  by  their  own  horses,  which 
were  put  into  disorder,  and  not  a  few  were  killed  by  their 


322 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  V  • 


own  chariots.  At  last  Sisera,  as  soon  as  he  saw  himself  beat¬ 
en,  fled  away,  and  came  to  a  woman  whose  name  was  Jael, 
a  Kenite,  who  received  him,  when  he  desired  to  be  conceal¬ 
ed  ;  and  when  he  asked  for  somewhat  to  drink,  she  gave  him 
sour  milk,  of  which  he  drank  so  immeasurably  that  he  fell 
asleep  ;  and  when  he  was  asleep,  Jael  took  an  iron  nail  and 
drove  it  through  his  temples  with  an  hammer  into  the  floor  : 
and  when  Barak  came  a  little  afterwards,  she  showed  Sisera 
nailed  to  the  ground.  And  thus  was  this  victory  gained  by  a 
woman,  as  Deborah  had  foretold.  Barak  also  fought  with 
Jabin  at  Hazor  ;  and  when  he  met  with  him  he  slew  him  : 
and  when  the  general  was  fallen,  Barak  overthrew  the  city  to 
the  foundation,  and  was  the  commander  of  the  Israelites  for 
forty  years. 


CHAP.  VI. 

< 

How  the  Midianites  and  other  nations  fovglit  against  the  Is¬ 
raelites,  and  heat  them,  and  afflicted  their  country  for  sev¬ 
en  years.  How  they  were  delivered  by  Gideon,  ivho  ruled 
over  the  multitude  for  seven  years. 

§  i.  Now  when  Barak  and  Deborah  were  dead ;  whose 
deaths  happened  about  the  same  time,  afterwards  the  Midian¬ 
ites  called  the  Amalekites  and  Arabians  to  their  assistance, 
and  made  war  against  the  Israelites,  and  were  too  hard  for 
those  that  fought  against  them  ;  and  when  they  had  burnt  the 
fruits  of  the  earth,  they  carried  off  the  prey.  Now  when  they 
had  done  this  for  three  years,  the  multitude  of  the  Israelites 
retired  to  the  mountains,  and  forsook  the  plain  country. 
They  also  made  themselves  hollows  under  ground,  and  ca¬ 
verns,  and  preserved  therein  whatsoever  had  escaped  then- 
enemies  :  for  the  Midianites  made  expeditions  in  harvest  time, 
but  permitted  them  to  plough  the  land  in  winter,  that  so  when 
the  others  had  taken  the  pains,  they  might  have  the  fruits  for 
them  to  carry  away.  Indeed  there  ensued  a  famine,  and  a 
scarcity  of  food,  upon  which  they  betook  themselves  to  then- 
supplications  to  God,  and  besought  him  to  save  them. 

2.  Gideon  also,  the  son  of  Joash,  one  of  the  principal  per¬ 
sons  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseli,  brought  his  sheaves  of  corn 
privately,  and  threshed  them  at  the  wine-press,  for  he  was 
too  fearful  of  their  enemies  to  thresh  them  openly  in  the 
threshing-floor.  At  this  time  somewhat  appeared  to  him  in 
the  shape  of  a  young  man,  and  told  him,  “  That  he  was  an 
happy  man,  and  beloved  of  God.”  To  which  he  immediate¬ 
ly  replied,  “  A  mighty  indication  of  God’s  favour  to  me,  that 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  VI. 


323 


l  am  forced  to  use  this  wine-press  instead  of  a  threshing- 
floor  !”  But  the  appearance  exhorted  him  to  be  of  good  cour¬ 
age,  and  to  make  an  attempt  for  the  recovery  of  their  liber¬ 
ty.  He  answered,  that  “  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  re<*>- 
ver  it,  because  the  tribe  to  which  he  belonged  was  by  no 
means  numerous,  and  because  he  was  but  young  himself,  and 
too  inconsiderable  to  think  of  such  great  actions.”  But  the 
other  promised  him,  that  God  would  supply  what  he  was  de- 
lective  in,  and  would  afford  the  Israelites  victory  under  his 
conduct. 

3.  Now  therefore  as  Gideon  was  relating  this  to  some  young 
men,  they  believed  him,  and  immediately  there  was  an  army 
of  ten  thousand  men  got  read^y  for  fighting.  But  God  stood 
by  Gideon  in  his  sleep,  and  told  him.  “  That  mankind  were 
too  fond  of  themselves,  and  were  enemies  to  such  as  excell¬ 
ed  in  virtue,  now  that  they  might  not  pass  God  over,  but  as¬ 
cribe  the  victory  to  him,  and  might  not  fancy  it  obtained  by 
their  own  power,  because  they  w'ere  a  great  army,  and  able 
of  themselves  to  fight  their  enemies,  but  might  confess  that 
it  was  owing  to  his  assistance,  he  advised  him  to  bring  his  ar¬ 
my  about  noon,  in  the  violence  of  the  heat,  to  the  river,,  and 
to  esteem  those  that  bent  down  on  their  knees,  and  so  drank, 
to  be  men  of  courage,  but  for  all  those  that  drank  tumultu¬ 
ously,  that  he  should  esteem  them  to  do  it  out  of  fear,  and 
as  in  dread  of  their  enemies.”  And  when  Gideon  had  done 
as  God  had  suggested  to  him,  there  were  found  three  hun¬ 
dred  men  that  took  water  with  their  hands  tumultuously,  so 
God  bid  him  take  these  men  and  attack  the  enemy.  Accord¬ 
ingly,  they  pitched  their  camp  at  the  river  Jordan,  as  ready 
the  next  day  to  pass  over  it. 

4  But  Gideon  was  in  great  fear,  for  God  had  told  him  be¬ 
forehand,  that  he  should  set  upon  his  enemies  in  the  night¬ 
time  :  but  God  being  willing  to  free  him  from  his  fear,  bid 
him  take  one  of  his  soldiers,  and  go  near  to  the  Midianites’ 
tents,  for  that  he  should  from  that  very  place  have  his  cour¬ 
age  raised,  and  grow  bold.  So  he  obeyed,  and  went  and  took 
his  servant  Phurah  with  him  ;  and  as  he  came  near  to  one  of 
the  tents  he  discovered  that  those  that  were  in  it  were  awake, 
and  that  one  of  them  was  telling  to  his  fellow  soldier  a  dream, 
of  his  own,  and  that  so  plainly  that  Gideon  could  hear  him. 
The  dream  was  this  :  he  thought  he  saw  a  barley-cake,  and 
such  an  one  as  could  hardly  be  eaten  by  men  it  was  so  vile, 
rolling  through  the  camp,  and  overthrowing  the  royal  tent, 
and  the  tents  of  all  the  soldiers.  Now  the  other  soldier  ex¬ 
plained  this  vision  to  mean  the  destruction  of  the  army,  and 
told  them  what  his  reason  was  which  made  him  so  to  conjee-. 


324- 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  V- 


ture,  viz*  that  the  seed  called  barley  was  all  of  it  allowed  to 
be  of  the  vilest  sort  of  seed,  and  that  the  Israelites  were 
known  to  be  the  vilest  of  all  the  people  of  Asia,  agreeably 
to.the  seed  of  barley,  and  that  what  seemed  to  look  big  among 
the  Israelites  was  this  Gideon  and  the  army  that  was  with 
him  :  and  since  thou  sayest  thou  didst  see  the  cake  overturn¬ 
ing  our  tents,  I  am  afraid  lest  God  hath  granted  the  victory 
over  us  to  Gideon. 

5.  When  Gideon  had  heard  this  dream,  good  hope  and  cour* 
age  came  upon  him  ;  and  he  commanded  his  soldiers  to  arm 
themselves,  and  told  them  of  this  vision  of  their  enemies. 
They  also  took  courage  at  what  was  told  them,  and  were  ready 
to  perform  what  he  should  enjoin  them  :  so  Gideon  divided 
his  army  into  three  parts,  and  brought  it  out  about  the  fourth 
watch  of  the  night,  each  part  containing  an  hundred  men:  they 
all  bare  empty  pitchers  and  lighted  lamps  in  their  hands,  that 
their  onset  might  not  be  discovered  by  their  enemies.  They 
had  also  each  of  them  a  ram’s  horn  in  his  right  hand,  which 
he  used  instead  of  a  trumpet.  The  enemies’  camp  took  up  a 
large  space  of  ground  ;  for  it  happened  they  had  a  great  many 
camels  :  and  as  they  were  divided  into  different  nations,  so 
they  were  all  contained  in  one  circle.  Now  when  the  He¬ 
brews  did  as  they  were  ordered  beforehand,  upon  their  approach 
to'their  enemies,  and  on  the  signal  given,  sounded  with  their 
rams’  horns,  and  brake  their  pitchers,  and  set  upon  their 
enemies  with  their  lamps,  and  a  great  shout,  and  cried, 
te  Victory  to  Gideon,  by  God’s  assistance,”  a  disorder  and  a 
fright  seized  on  the  other  men  while  they  were  half  asleep, 
for  it  was  night  time,  as  God  would  have  it ;  so  that  a  few  of 
them  were  slain  by  their  enemies,  but  the  greatest  part  by 
their  own  soldiers,  on  account  of  the  diversity  of  their  lan¬ 
guage,  and  when  they  were  once  put  into  disorder,  they  kill¬ 
ed  all  that  they  met  with,  as  thinking  them  to  be  enemies  also. 
Thus  there  was  a  great  slaughter  made.  And  as  the  report 
of  Gideon’s  victory  came  to  the  Israelites,  they  took  their 
weapons  and  pursued  their  enemies  and  overtook  them  in  a 
certain  valley,  encompassed  with  torrents,  a  place  which 
these  could  not  get  over;  so  they  encompassed  them,  and 
slew  them  all,  with  their  kings,  Oreb  and  Zeeb.  But  the  re¬ 
maining  captains  led  those  soldiers  that  were  left,  which  were 
about  eighteen  thousand,  and  pitched  their  camp  a  great  way 
off  the  Israelites.  However,  Gideon  did  not  grudge  his  pains, 
but  pursued  them  with  all  his  army,  and  joined  battle  with 
them,  cut  off  the  whole  enemies’  army,  and  took  the  other 
leaders,  Zebah  and  Zalmuna,  and  made  them  captives.  Now 
there  were  slain  in  this  battle  of  the  Midianites,  and  of  their 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  VII. 


325 


auxiliaries  the  Arabians,  about  an  hundred  and  twenty  thou¬ 
sand,  and  the  Hebrews  took  a  great  prey,  gold  and  silver,  and 
garments,  and  camels,  and  asses.  And  when  Gideon  was 
come  to  his  own  country  of  Ophrah,  he  slew  the  kings  of  the 
Midianites. 

6.  However,  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  was  so  displeased  at 
the  gopd  success  of  Gideon,  that  they  resolved  to  make  war 
against  him,  accusing  him  because  he  did  not  tell  them  of  his 
expedition  against  their  enemies.  But  Gideon  as  a  man  of 
temper,  and  that  excelled  in  every  virtue,  pleaded,  that  “it 
was  not  the  result  of  his  own  authority  or  reasoning,  that 
made  him  attack  the  enemy  without  them,  but  that  it  was  the 
command  of  God,  and  still  the  victory  belonged  to  them  as 
well  as  those  in  the  army.”  And  by  this  method  of  cooling 
their  passions,  he  brought  more  advantage  to  the  Hebrews 
than  by  the  success  he  had  against  these  enemies,  for  he 
thereby  delivered  them  from  a  sedition  which  was  arising 
among  them  ;  yet  did  this  tribe  afterwards  suffer  the  punish¬ 
ment  of  this  their  injurious  treatment  of  Gideon,  of  which  we 
will  give  an  account  in  due  time. 

7*  Hereupon  Gideon  would  have  laid  down  the  govern¬ 
ment,  but  was  over-persuaded  to  take  it,  which  he  enjoyed 
forty  years,  and  distributed  justice  to  them  as  the  people  came 
to  him  in  their  differences  ;  and  what  he  determined  was  es¬ 
teemed  valid  by  all.  And  when  he  died,  he  was  buried  in 
his  own  country  of  Ophrah. 


CHAP.  VII. 


That  the  judges  who  succeeded  Gideon  made,  war  with  the 
adjoining  nations  for  a  long  time. 

§  1.  Now  Gideon  had  seventy  sons  that  were  legitimate, 
for  he  had  many  wives,  but  he  had  also  one  that  wras  spuri¬ 
ous  by  his  concubine  Drumah,  whose  name  was  Abimelech , 
who,  after  his  father’s  death,  retired  to  Shechem  to  his  mo¬ 
ther’s  relations,  for  they  were  of  that  place  :  and  when  he 
had  got  money  of  such  of  them  as  were  eminent  for  man}' 
instances  of  injustice,  he  came  with  them  to  his  father’s 
house,  and  slew  all  his  brethren  except  Jotham,  for  he  had 
the  good  fortune  to  escape  and  be  preserved;  but  Abime¬ 
lech  nrade  the  government  tyrannical,  and  constituted  himself 
a  lcrd,  to  do  what  he  pleased,  instead  of  obeying  the  laws,  and 
he  acted  most  rigidly  against  those  that  were  the  patrons  of 
justice. 

E  e 


VOL.  1. 


326 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  V' 


2.  Now  when  on  a  certain  time,  there  was  a  public  festi- 
val  at  Shechem,  and  all  the  multitude  was  there  gathered  to¬ 
gether,  Jotham  his  brother,  whose  escape  we  before  related, 
went  up  to  mount  Gerizim,  which  hangs  over  the  city  She¬ 
chem,  and  cried  out  so  as  to  be  heard  by  the  multitude,  who 
were  attentive  to  him.  He  desired  they  would  consider  what 
he  was  going  to  say  to  them  ;  so  when  silence  was  made,  he 
said,  “  That  when  the  trees  had  a  human  voice,  and  there 
was  an  assembly  of  them  gathered  together,  they  desired  that 
the  fig-tree  would  rule  over  them  ;  but  when  that  tree  refus¬ 
ed  so  to  do,  because  it  was  contented  to  enjoy  that  honour 
which  belonged  peculiarly  to  the  fruit  it  bare,  and  not  that 
which  should  be  derived  to  it  from  abroad,  the  trees  did 
not  leave  off  their  intentions  to  have  a  ruler,  so  they  thought 
proper  to  make  the  offer  of  that  honour  to  the  vine  :  but 
when  the  vine  was  chosen,  it  made  use  of  the  same  words 
which  the  fig-tree  had  used  before,  and  excused  itself  from 
accepting  the  government  :  and  when  the  olive-tree  had  done 
the  same,  the  brier,  whom  the  trees  had  desired  to  take  the 
kingdom,  (it  is  a  sort  of  wood  good  for  firing,)  it  promised  to 
take  the  government,  and  to  be  zealous  in  the  exercise  of  it, 
but  that  then  they  must  sit  down  under  its  shadow,  and  if  they 
should  plot  against  it  to  destroy  it,  the  principle  of  fire  that 
was  in  it  should  destroy  them.  lie  told  them  that  what  he 
had  said  was  no  laughing  matter  :  for  that  when  they  had  ex¬ 
perienced  many  blessings  from  Gideon,  they  overlooked  Abi- 
melech,  when  he  over-ruled  all,  and  had  joined  w  ith  them  in 
slaying  his  brethren  ;  and  that  he  was  no  better  than  a  fire 
himself.”  So  when  he  had  said  this,  he  went  away,  and  liv¬ 
ed  privately  in  the  mountains  for  three  years,  out  of  fear  of 
Abimelecli. 

3.  A  little  while  after  this  festival,  the  Shechemites,  who 
had  now  repented  themselves  of  having  slain  the  sons  of  Gi¬ 
deon,  drove  Abimelech  away,  both  from  their  city  and  their 
tribe  ;  whereupon  he  contrived  how  he  might  distress  their 
city.  Now  at  the  season  of  vintage,  the  people  were  afraid 
to  go  out  and  gather  their  fruits,  for  fear  Abimelech  should 
do  them  some  mischief.  Now  it  happened  that  there  had 
come  to  them  a  man  of  authority,  one  Gaal,  that  sojourned 
with  them,  having  his  armed  men,  and  his  kinsmen  with  him, 
so  the  Shechemites  desired  that  he  would  allow  them  a  guard 
during  their  vintage,  whereupon  he  accepted  of  their  desires 
and  so  the  people  went  out,  and  Gaal  with  them  at  the  head 
of  his  soldiery  :  so  they  gathered  their  fruit  with  safety;  and 
when  they  were  at  supper  in  several  companies,  they  ven- 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


32  7 


Chap.  VII. 

tured  to  curse  Abimelech  openly,  and  the  magistrates  laid  am. 
bushes  in  places  about  the  city,  and  caught  many  of  Abime- 
lech’s  followers,  and  destroyed  them. 

4.  Now  there  was  one  Zebul,  a  magistrate  of  the  Sche- 
chemites,  that  had  entertained  Abimelech.  He  sent  messen¬ 
gers,  and  informed  him  how  much  Gaal  had  irritated  the 
people  against  him,  and  excited  him  to  lay  ambushes  before 
the  city,  for  that  he  would  persuade  Gaal  to  go  out  against 
him,  which  would  leave  it  in  his  power  to  be  revenged  on 
him,  and  when  that  was  once  done,  he  would  bring  him  to  be 
reconciled  to  the  city.  So  Abimelech  laid  ambushes,  and 
himself  lay  with  them.  Now  Gaal  abode  in  the  suburbs,  tak¬ 
ing  little  care  of  himself ;  and  Zebul  was  with  him.  Now  as 
Gaal  saw  the  armed  men  coming  on,  he  said  to  Zebul,  that 
some  armed  men  were  coming  :  but  the  other  replied,  they 
rvere  only  shadows  of  huge  stones;  and  when  they  were  come 
nearer,  Gaal  perceived  what  was  the  reality,  and  said  they 
were  not  shadows,  but  men  lying  in  ambush.  Then  said  Ze¬ 
bul,  didst  not  thou  reproach  Abimelech  for  cowardice  ?  why 
dost  not  thou  then  show  how  very  courageous  thou  art  thyself, 
and  go  and  fight  him  ?  So  Gaal,  being  in  disorder,  joined  bat¬ 
tle  with  Abimelech,  and  some  of  his  men  fell  :  whereupon 
he  fled  into  the  city,  and  took  his  men  with  him.  But  Zebul 
managed  his  matters  so  in  the  city,  that  he  procured  them  to 
expel  Gaal  out  of  the  city,  and  this  by  accusing  him  of  cow¬ 
ardice  in  this  action  with  the  soldiers  of  Abimelech.  But 
Abimelech,  when  he  had  learned  that  the  Schechemites  were 
again  coming  out  to  gather  their  grapes,  placed  ambushes  be¬ 
fore  the  city,  and  when  they  were  coming  out,  the  third  part 
of  his  army  took  possession  of  the  gates  to  hinder  the  citizens 
from  returning  in  again,  while  the  rest  pursued  those  that 
were  scattered  abroad,  and  so  there  was  slaughter  every 
where  ;  and  when  he  had  overthrown  the  city  to  the  very 
foundations,  for  it  was  not  able  to  bear  a  siege,  and  had  sown 
its  ruins  with  salt,  he  proceeded  on  with  his  army  till  all  the 
Schechemites  were  slain.  As  for  those  that  were  scattered 
about  the  country,  and  so  escaped  the  danger,  they  were  ga¬ 
thered  together  unto  a  certain  strong  rock,  and  settled  them¬ 
selves  upon  it,  and  prepared  to  build  a  wall  about  it  ;  and 
when  Abimelech  knew  their  intentions,  he  prevented  them, 
and  came  upon  them  with  his  forces,  and  laying  faggots  of  dry 
wood  round  the  place,  he  himself  bringing  some  of  them,  and 
by  his  example  encouraging  the  soldiers  to  do  the  same. 
And  when  the  rock  was  encompassed  round  about  with  these 
faggots,  they  set  them  on  fire,  and  threw  in  whatsoever  by 


328 


ANTIQUITIES 


Boole  V. 


nature  caught  fire  the  most  easily  ;  so  a  mighty  flame  was 
raised,  and  no  body  could  fly  away  from  the  rock,  but  every 
man  perished,  with  their  wives  and  children,  in  all  about  fif¬ 
teen  hundred  men,  and  the  rest  were  a  great  number  also. 
And  such  was  the  calamity  which  fell  upon  the  Schechemites : 
and  men’s  grief  on  their  account  had  been  greater  than  it  was, 
had  they  not  brought  so  much  mischief  on  a  person  who  had 
so  well  deserved  of  them,  and  had  they  not  themselves  esteem¬ 
ed  this  as  a  punishment  for  the  same. 

5.  Now  Abimelech,  when  he  had  affrighted  the  Israelites 
with  the  miseries  he  had  brought  upon  the  Schechemites,  seem¬ 
ed  openly  to  affect  greater  authority  than  he  now  had,  and 
appeared  to  set  no  bounds  to  his  violence,  unless  it  were  with 
the  destruction  of  all.  Accordingly,  he  marched  to  Thebes, 
and  took  the  city  on  a  sudden  ;  and  there  being  a  great  tow¬ 
er  therein,  whereunto  the  whole  multitude  fled,  he  made 
preparation  to  besiege  it.  Now  as  he  was  rushing  with  vio¬ 
lence  near  the  gates,  a  woman  threw  a  piece  of  a  mill-stone 
upon  his  head,  upon  which  Abimelech  fell  down  :  and  desir¬ 
ed  his  armour-bearer  to  kill  him,  lest  his  death  should  be 
thought  to  be  the  work  of  a  woman,  who  did  what  he  was  bid 
to  do.  So  he  underwent  this  death  as  a  punishment  for  the 
wickedness  he  had  perpetrated  against  his  brethren,  and  his 
insolent  barbarity  to  the  Schechemites.  Now  the  calamity 
that  happened  to  those  Schechemites  was  according  to  the 
prediction  of  .Totbam.  However,  the  army  that  was  with 
Abimelech,  upon  his  fall,  was  scattered  abroad,  and  went  to 
their  own  homes. 

6.  Now  it  was  that  *Jair  the  Gileadite,  of  the  tribe  of  Ma- 
nasseh,  took  the  government.  He  was  a  man  happy  in  other 
respects  also,  but  particularly  in  his  children,  who  were  of  a 
good  character.  They  were  thirty  in  number,  and  very  skil¬ 
ful  in  riding  on  horses,  and  were  intrusted  with  the  govern¬ 
ment  of  the  cities  of  Gilead.  He  kept  the  government  twen¬ 
ty-two  years,  and  died  an  old  man  ;  and  he  was  buried  in  Ca¬ 
nton,  a  city  of  Gilead. 

7-  And  now  all  the  affairs  of  the  Hebrews  were  managed 
uncertainly,  and  tended  to  disorder,  and  to  the  contempt  of 
God,  and  of  the  laws.  So  the  Amorites  and  Philistines  had 


*  Our  present  copies  of  Josephus  all  omit  Tola  among  the  Judges, 
though  the  other  copies  have  him  nest  after  Abimelech,  and  allot  28 
years  to  his  ad  ministration,  Judges  x  1,2,  yet  do  all  Josephus's  commen¬ 
tators  conclude,  that  in  Josephus’s  sum  of  (he  years  of  the  Judges,  his 
23  years  are  included ;  hence  we  are  to  confess,  that  somewhat  has  been 
here  lost  out  of  his  copies. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


320 


Chap.  VII. 

them  in  contempt,  and  laid  waste  the  country  with  a  great 
army  ;  and  when  they  had  taken  all  Perea,  they  were  so  in¬ 
solent  as  to  attempt  to  gain  possession  of  all  the  rest:  but 
the  Hebrews  being  now  amended  by  the  calamities  they  had 
undergone,  betook  themselves  to  supplications  to  God  ;  and 
brought  sacrifices  to  him,  beseeching  him  not  to  be  too  se¬ 
vere  upon  them,  but  to  be  moved  by  their  prayers  to  leave 
off  his  anger  against  them.  So  God  became  more  merciful  to 
them,  and  was  ready  to  assist  them. 

8.  When  the  Ammonites  had  made  an  expedition  into  the 
land  of  Gilead,  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  met  them  at  a 
certain  mountain,  but  wanted  a  commander.  Now  there  was 
one  whose  name  was  Jephtha,  who,  both  on  account  of  his 
father’s  virtue,  and  on  account  of  that  army  which  he  main¬ 
tained  at  his  own  expenses,  was  a  potent  man  :  the  Israelites, 
therefore,  sent  to  him,  and  entreated  him  to  come  to  their  as¬ 
sistance  and  promised  him  the  dominion  over  them  all  his 
lifetime.  But  he  did  not  admit  of  their  entreaty;  and  ac¬ 
cused  them,  that  they  did  not  come  to  his  assistance  when  he 
was  unjustly  treated,  and  this  in  an  open  manner,  by  his  bre¬ 
thren  ;  for  they  cast  him  off,  as  not  having  the  same  mother 
with  the  rest,  but  born  of  a  strange  mother,  that  was  intro¬ 
duced  among  them  by  his  father’s  fondness,  that  this  they  did 
out  of  a  contempt  of  his  inabil.ty  [to  vindicate  himself.]  So 
he  dwelt  in  the  country  of  Gilead,  as  it  is  called,  and  receiv¬ 
ed  all  that  came  to  him,  let  them  come  from  what  place  so¬ 
ever,  and  paid  them  wages.  However,  when  they  pressed 
him  to  accept  the  dominion,  and  sware  that  they  would  grant 
him  the  government  over  them  all  his  life,  he  led  them  to  the 
war. 

9.  And  when  Jephtha  had  taken  immediate  care  of  their 
affairs,  he  placed  his  army  at  the  city  Mispeh,  and  sent  a 
message  to  the  Ammonite  [king,]  complaining  of  his  unjust 
possession  of  their  land.  But  that  king  sent  a  contrary  mes¬ 
sage  ;  and  complained  of  the  Exodus  of  the  Israelites  out  of 
Egypt,  and  desired  him  to  go  out  of  the  land  of  the  Amo- 
rites,  and  yield  it  up  to  him,  as  at  first  his  paternal  inherit¬ 
ance.  But  Jephtha  returned  this  answer,  that  u  he  did  not 
justly  complain  of  his  ancestors  about  the  land  of  the  Amo- 
rites,  and  ought  rather  to  thank  them  that  they  left  the  land 
of  the  Ammonites  to  them,  since  Moses  could  have  taken  it 
also;  and  that  neither  would  he  recede  from  that  land  of 
their  own,  which  God  had  obtained  from  them,  and  they  had 
now  inhabited  [above]  three  hundred  years,  but  would  fight 
with  them  about  it.” 


E  e  2 


330 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  V. 


10.  And  when  he  had  given  them  this  answer,  he  sent  the 
ambassadors  away.  And  when  he  had  prayed  for  victory, 
and  had  #vowed  to  perform  sacred  offices;  and  if  became 
home  in  safety,  to  offer  in  sacrifice  what  living  creature  so¬ 
ever  should  first  meet  him,  he  joined  battle  with  the  enemy, 
and  gained  a  great  victory,  and  in  his  pursuit  slew  the  ene¬ 
mies  all  along  as  far  as  the  city  Minnith.  He  then  passed 
over  to  the  land  of  ihe  Ammonites,  and  overthrew  many  of 
their  cities,  and  took  their  prey,  and  freed  his  own  people 
from  that  slavery  which  they  had  undergone  for  eighteen 
years.  Cut  as  he  came  back,  he  fell  into  a  calamity  no  way 
correspondent  to  the  great  actions  he  had  done;  for  it  was 
his  daughter  that  came 0to  meet  him  ;  she  was  also  an  only 
child,  and  a  virgin  :  upon  this  Jephtha  heavily  lamented  the 
greatness  of  his  affliction,  and  blamed  his  daughter  for  being 
so  forward  in  meeting  him,  for  he  had  vowed  to  sacrifice  her 
to  God.  However,  this  action  that  was  to  befall  her  was  not 
ungrateful  to  her,  since  she  should  die  upon  occasion  of  her 
father’s  victory,  and  the  liberty  of  her  fellow-citizens:  she 
only  desired  her  father  to  give  her  leave  for  two  months  to 
bewail  her  youth  with  her  fellow-citizens ;  and  then  she 
agreed,  that  at  the  forementioned  time  he  might  do  with  her 
according  to  his  vow.  Accordingly,  when  that  time  was 
over,  he  sacrificed  his  daughter  as  a  burnt-offering,  ofiering 
such  an  oblation  as  wras  neither  comformable  to  the  law7,  nor 
acceptable  to  God,  not  weighing  with  himself  what  opinion 
the  hearers  would  have  of  such  a  practice. 

11.  Now  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  fought  against  him,  because 
he  did  not  take  them  along  with  him  in  his  expedition  against 
the  Ammonites,  but  because  he  alone  had  the  prey,  and  the 
glory  of  what  was  done  to  himself.  As  to  which  he  said, 
first,  that  they  were  not  ignorant  how  his  country  had  fought 
against  him,  and  that  when  they  were  invited,  they  did  not 
come  to  his  assistance,  whereas  they  ought  to  have  come 
quickly,  even  before  they  were  invited.  And  in  the  next 
place,  that  they  were  going  to  act  unjustly;  for  while  they 
had  not  courage  enough  to  fight  their  enemies,  they  came 


*  Josephus  justly  condemns  Jephtha;  as  do  the  Apostolical  Constitu¬ 
tions,  B.  vii.  ch.  37,  for  his  rash  vow,  whether  it  were  for  sacrificing  his 
daughter,  as  Josephus  thought,  or  for  dedicating  her  w  ho  was  his  only 
child  to  perpetual  virginity,  at  the  tabernacle  or  elsewhere,  which  I 
rather  suppose.  If  he  had  vowed  her  for  a  sacrifice,  she  ought  to  have 
been  redeemed,  Levit  xxvii.  1 — 8,  but  of  the  sense  of  v.  28,  2f),  as  re¬ 
lating  not  to  things  rowed  to  God,  but  dtvolecl  to  destruction,  see  the  note 
on  Antiq.  B.  v.  ch  i.  6  8. 


OF  TIIE  JEWS. 


331 


Chap.  VIII. 

hastily  against  their  own  kindred  :  and  he  threatened  them, 
that  with  God’s  assistance,  he  would  inflict  a  punishment  upon 
them,  unless  they  would  grow  wiser.  But  when  he  could 
not  persuade  them,  he  fought  with  them  with  those  forces 
which  he  sent  for  out  of  Gilead,  and  he  made  a  great  slaugh¬ 
ter  among  them;  and  when  they  were  beaten,  he  pursued 
them,  and  seized  on  the  passages  of  Jordan  by  a  part  of  his 
army  which  he  had  sent  before,  and  slew  about  forty-two 
thousand  of  them. 

12.  So  when  Jephtha  had  ruled  six  j^ears  he  died,  and  was 
buried  in  his  own  country  Sebee,  which  is  a  place  in  the  land 
of  Gilead. 

13.  Now  when  Jephtha  was  dead,  Ibzan  took  the  govern¬ 
ment,  being  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  of  the  city  Bethlehem. 
He  had  sixty  children,  thirty  of  them  sons  and  the  rest 
daughters;  all  which  he  left  alive  behind  him,  giving  the 
daughters  in  marriage  to  husbands,  and  taking  wives  for  his 
sons.  He  did  nothing  in  the  seven  years  of  his  administra¬ 
tion  that  was  worth  recording,  or  deserved  a  memorial.  So 
he  died  an  old  man,  and  was  buried  in  his  own  country. 

14.  When  ibzan  was  dead  after  this  manner,  neither  did 
Helon  who  succeeded  him  in  the  government,  and  kept  it 
ten  years  do  any  thing  remarkable;  he  was  of  the  tribe  of 
Zabulon. 

15.  Abdon,  also  the  son  of  Hillel,  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim, 
and  born  at  the  city  Pyratlu  n,  was  ordained  the  supreme 
governor  after  Helen.  He  is  only  recorded  to  have  been 
happy  in  his  children ;  for  the  public  affairs  were  then  so 
peaceable,  and  in  such  security,  that  neither  did  he  perform 
any  glorious  action.  He  had  forty  sons,  and  by  them  left 
thirty  grand  children ;  and  he  marched  in  state  with  these 
seventy,  who  were  very  skilful  in  riding  horses,  and  he  left 
them  all  alive  after  him.  He  died  an  old  man  ;  and  obtained 
a  magnificent  burial  in  Pyrathon. 


CHAP.  VIII. 

Concerning  the  fortitude  of  Sampson,  and  what  mischiefs  he 
brought  upon  the  Philistines. 

§  1.  After  Abdon  was  dead,  the  Philistines  overcame  the 
Israelites,  and  received  tribute  of  them  for  forty  years;  from 
which  distress  they  were  delivered  after  this  manner. 

2.  There  was  one  Manoah,  a  person  of  such  great  virtue, 
that  he  had  few  men  his  equals,  and  without  dispute  the  prin- 


332 


ANTIQUITIES 


Book  V. 


cipal  person  of  his  country.  He  had  a  wife  celebrated  for 
her  beauty,  and  excelling  her  contemporaries.  He  had  n'o 
children ;  and  being  uneasy  at  his  want  of  posterily,  he  en¬ 
treated  God  to  give  them  seed  of  their  own  bodies  to  succeed 
them  :  and  with  that  intent  lie  came  constantly  into  the  *  su¬ 
burbs  together  with  his  wife,  which  suburbs  were  in  the 
great  plain.  Now  he  was  fond  of  his  wife  to  the  degree  of 
madness,  and  on  that  account  was  immeasurably  jealous  of 
her.  Now  when  his  wife  was  once  alone,  an  apparition  was 
seen  by  her  ;  it  was  an  angel  of  God,  and  resembled  a  young 
man,  beautiful  and  tall,  and  brought  her  the  good  news,  that 
she  should  have  a  son,  born  by  God’s  providence,  that  should 
be  a  goodly  child,  of  great  strength,  by  whom,  when  he  w’as 
grown  up  to  man’s  estate,  the  Philistines  should  be  afflicted, 
lie  exhorted  her  also  not  to  poll  his  hair,  and  that  he  should 
avoid  all  other  kinds  of  drink,  (for  so  had  God  commanded,) 
and  be  entirely  contented  with  water.  So  the  angel,  when 
he  had  delivered  that  message,  went  his  way,  his  coming  hav¬ 
ing  been  by  the  will  of  God. 

3.  Now  the  wife  informed  her  husband,  when  he  cam* 
home,  of  what  the  angel  had  said,  who  showed  so  great  an 
admiration  of  the  beauty  and  tallness  of  the  young  man  that 
had  appeared  to  her,  that  her  husband  was  astonished,  and 
out  of  himself  for  jealousy,  and  such  suspicions  as  are  exci¬ 
ted  by  that  passion  :  but  she  was  desirous  to  have  her  hus¬ 
band’s  unreasonable  sorrow  taken  away  ;  accordingly,  she  en¬ 
treated  God  to  send  the  angel  again,  that  he  might  be  seen  by 
her  husband.  So  the  angel  came  again,  by  the  favour  of  God, 
while  they  were  in  the  suburbs,  and  appeared  to  her  when 
she  was  alone,  without  her  husband.  She  desired  the  angel 
to  stay  so  long  till  she  might  bring  her  husband  ;  and  that  re¬ 
quest  being  granted,  she  goes  to  call  Manoah.  When  he  saw 
the  angel  he  was  not  yet  free  from  suspicion,  and  he  desired 
him  to  inform  him  of  all  that  he  had  told  his  wife  :  but  when 
he  said,  it  was  sufficient  that  she  alone  knew,  what  he  had  said, 
he  then  requested  him  to  tell  him  who  he  was,  that  when 
the  child  was  born  they  might  return  him  thanks,  and  give 
him  a  present.  He  replied,  that  he  did  not  want  any  pre¬ 
sent,  for  that  he  did  not  bring  them  the  good  newrs  of  the 
birth  of  a  son  out  of  the  want  of  any  thing.  And  when  Ma¬ 
noah  had  entreated  him  to  stay,  and  partake  of  his  hospitali- 


*  I  can  discover  no  reason  why  Manoah  and  his  wife  came  so  con¬ 
stantly  into  these  suburbs  to  pray  for  children,  but  because  there  was  a 
s  ynagogue  or  place  of  devotion  in  those  suburbs. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


333 


Chap.  VIII. 


ty,  he  did  not  give  his  consent.  However,  he  was  persuaded, 
at  the  earnest  request  of  Manoah,  to  stay  so  long  as  while  he 
brought  him  one  mark  of  his  hospitality ;  so  he  slew  a  kid 
of  the  goats,  and  bid  his  wife  boil  it.  When  all  was  ready, 
the  angel  enjoined  them  to  set  the  loaves  and  the  flesh,  but 
without  the  vessels,  upon  the  rock ;  which,  when  they  had 
done,  he  touched  the  flesh  with  the  rod  which  he  had  in  his 
hand,  w  hich,  upon  the  breaking  out  of  a  flame,  was  consum¬ 
ed,  together  with  the  loaves.  And  the  angel  ascended  open¬ 
ly,  in  their  sight,  up  to  heaven,  by  means  of  the  smoke,  as  by 
a  vehicle.  Now  Manoah  was  afraid  that  some  danger  would 
come  to  them  from  this  sight  of  God,  but  his  wife  bid  him  be 
of  good  courage;  for  that  God  appeared  to  them  for  their 
benefit. 

4.  So  the  woman  proved  with  child,  and  was  careful  to  ob¬ 
serve  the  injunctions  that  were  given  her;  and  they  called 
the  child,  when  he  was  born,  Sampson,  which  name  signifies 
one  that  is  strong.  So  the  child  grew  apace,  and  it  appeared 
evidently  that  he  would  be  a  *  prophet,  both  by  the  Modera¬ 
tion  of  his  diet,  and  the  permission  of  his  hair  to  grow. 

5.  Now  when  he  once  came  with  his  parents  to  Timnath, 
a  city  of  the  Philistines,  when  there  was  a  great  festival,  he 
fell  in  love  with  a  maid  of  that  country,  and  he  desired  of  his 
parents  that  they  should  procure  nim  the  damsel  for  his  wife  : 
but  the}'  refused  so  to  do,  because  she  was  not  of  the  stock 
of  Israel;  yet  because  this  marriage  wras  of  God,  who  intend¬ 
ed  to  convert  it  to  the  benefit  of  the  Hebrews,  he  over-per¬ 
suaded  them  to  procure  her  to  be  espoused  to  him.  And  as 
he  was  continually  coming  to  her  parents,  he  met  a  lion,  and 
though  he  was  naked,  he  received  his  onset,  and  strangled  him 
with  his  hands,  and  cast  the  wild  beast  into  a  woody  piece  of 
ground  on  the  inside  of  the  road. 

6.  And  when  he  was  going  another  time  to  the  damsel,  he 
light  upon  a  swarm  of  bees  making  their  combs  in  the  breast 
of  that  lion,  and  taking  three  honey  combs  away,  he  gave 
them,  together  with  the  rest  of  his  presents,  to  the  damsel. 
Now  the  people  of  Timnath,  out  of  a  dread  of  the  young 
man’s  strength,  gave  him  during  the  time  of  the  wedding  feast, 
(for  he  then  feasted  them  all,)  thirty  of  the  most  stout  of  their 


*  Here  by  a  prophet  Josephus  seems  only  to  mean  one  (hat  is  born  by 
a  particular  providence,  lived  after  the  manner  of  a  Nazarile  devoted  to 
God,  and  was  to  have  an  extraordinary  commission  and  strength  from 
God,  for  the  judging  and  avenging  of  his  people  Israel,  without  any  pro* 
per  prophetic  revelations  at  all. 


334 


ANTIQUITIES 


Booh  V, 


youth  in  pretence  to  be  his  companions,  but  in  reality  to  be 
a  guard  upon  him,  that  he  might  not  attempt  to  give  them  any 
disturbance.  Now  as  they  were  drinking  merrily  and  play¬ 
ing,  Sampson  said,  as  was  usual  at  such  times,  “  Come,  if  I 
propose  you  a  riddle,  and  you  can  expound  it  in  these  seven 
day’s  time,  I  will  give  you  every  one  a  linen  shirt  and  a  gar¬ 
ment,  as  a  reward  of  your  wisdom.”  So  they  being  very 
ambitious  to  obtain  the  glory  of  wisdom,  together  with  the 
gains,  desired  him  to  propose  his  riddle  :  he  said,  “  that  a 
great  devourer  produced  sweet  food  out  of  itself,  though  it¬ 
self  were  very  disagreeable.”  And  when  they  were  not  able, 
in  three  days’  time,  to  find  out  the  meaning  of  the  riddle,  they 
desired  the  damsel  to  discover  it  by  the  means  of  her  hus¬ 
band,  and  tell  it  them,  and  they  threatened  to  burn  her  if  she 
did  not  tell  it  them.  So  when  the  damsel  entreated  Sampson 
to  tell  it  her,  he  at  first  refused  to  do  it,  but  when  she  lay 
hard  at  him,  and  fell  into  tears,  and  made  his  refusal  to  tell  it 
a  sign  of  his  unkindness  to  her,  he  informed  her  of  his  slaugh¬ 
ter  of  a  lion,  and  how  he  found  bees  in  his  breast,  and  car¬ 
ried  away  three  honey-combs, and  brought  them  to  her.  Thus 
he,  suspecting  nothing  of  deceit,  informed  her  of  all,  and  she 
revealed  it  to  those  that  desired  to  know  it.  Then  on  the 
seventh  day,  whereon  they  were  to  expound  the  riddle  pro¬ 
posed  to  them,  they  met  together  before  sun-setting,  and  said, 
“  Nothing  is  more  disagreeable  than  a  lion  to  those  that  light 
on  it,  and  nothing  is  sweeter  than  honey  to  those  that  make 
use  of  it.”  To  which  Sampson  made  this  rejoinder,  “No¬ 
thing  is  more  deceitful  than  a  woman,  for  such  was  the  per¬ 
son  that  discovered  my  interpretation  to  you.”  Accordingly, 
he  gave  them  the  presents  he  had  promised  them,  making 
such  Askelonites  as  met  him  upon  the  road  his  prey,  who  were 
themselves  Philistines  also.  But  he  divorced  this  his  wife, 
and  the  girl  despised  his  anger,  and  was  married  to  his  com¬ 
panion,  who  made  the  former  match  between  them. 

7.  At  this  injurious  treatment,  Sampson  was  so  provoked, 
that  he  resolved  to  punish  all  the  Philistines,  as  well  as  her : 
so  it  being  then  summer-time,  and  the  fruits  of  the  land  being 
almost  ripe  enough  for  reaping,  he  caught  three  hundred 
foxes,  and  joining  lighted  torches  to  their  tails,  he  sent  them 
into  the  fields  of  the  Philistines,  by  which  means  the  fruits  of 
the  fields  perished.  Now  when  the  Philistines  knew  that  this 
was  Sampson’s  doing,  and  knew  also  for  what  cause  he  did  it, 
they  sent  their  rulers  to  Timnath,  and  burnt  his  former  wife, 
and  her  relations,  who  had  been  the  occasion  of  their  mis¬ 
fortunes. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


335 


Chap.  VIII. 

8.  Now  when  Sampson  had  slain  many  of  the  Philistines  in 
the  plain  country,  he  dwelt  at  Etam,  which  is  a  strong  rock  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah  ;  for  the  Philistines  at  that  time  made  an 
expedition  against  that  tribe  :  but  the  people  of  Judah  said, 
that  they  did  not  act  justly  with  them,  in  inflicting  punish¬ 
ments  upon  them,  while  they  paid  their  tribute,  and  this  only 
on  account  of  Sampson’s  offences.  They  answered,  that  in 
case  they  would  not  be  blamed  themselves,  they  must  deliver 
up  Sampson,  and  put  him  into  their  power.  So  they  being 
desirous  not  to  be  blamed  themselves,  came  to  the  rock  with 
three  thousand  armed  men,  and  complained  to  Sampson  of  the 
bold  insults  he  had  made  upon  the  Philistines,  who  were  men 
able  to  bring  calamity  upon  the  whole  nation  of  the  Hebrews; 
and  they  told  him  they  were  come  to  take  him,  and  to  deliver 
him  up  to  them,  and  put  him  into  their  power,  so  they  desir¬ 
ed  him  to  bear  this  willingly.  Accordingly,  when  he  had  re¬ 
ceived  assurance  from  them  upon  oath  that  they  would  do  him 
no  other  harm  than  only  to  deliver  him  into  his  enemies’ 
hands,  he  came  down  from  the  rock,  and  put  himself  into  the 
power  of  his  countrymen.  Then  did  they  bind  him  with  two* 
cords,  and  lead  him  on,  in  order  to  deliver  him  to  the  Philis¬ 
tines  ;  and  when  they  came  to  a  certain  place,  which  is  now 
called  The  Jaw-bone ,  on  account  of  the  great  action  there  per¬ 
formed  by  Sampson,  though  of  old  it  had  no  particular  name 
at  all,  the  Philistines,  who  had  pitched  their  camp  not  far  off, 
came  to  meet  them  with  joy  and  shouting,  as  having  done  a 
great  thing,  and  gained  what  they  desired  ;  but  Sampson 
broke  his  bonds  assunder,  and  catching  up  the  jaw-bone  of  an 
ass  that  lay  down  at  his  feet,  fell  upon  his  enemies,  and  smit¬ 
ing  them  with  his  jaw-bone,  slew  a  thousand  of  them,  and  put 
the  rest  to  flight,  and  into  great  disorder. 

9.  Upon  this  slaughter,  Sampson  was  too  proud  of  what  he 
had  performed,  and  said  that  this  did  not  come  to  pass  by  the 
assistance  of  God,  but  that  his  success  was  to  be  ascribed  to 
his  own  courage  ;  and  vaunted  himself,  that  “  it  was  out  of 
a  dread  of  him  that  some  of  his  enemies  fell,  and  the  rest 
lan  away  upon  his  use  of  the  jaw-bone.”  But  when  a  great 
thirst  came  upon  him,  he  considered  that  human  courage  was 
nothing,  and  bare  his  testimony  that  all  is  to  be  ascribed  to 
God,  and  besought  him  that  he  would  not  be  angry  at  any 
thing  he  had  said,  nor  give  him  up  into  the  hands  of  his  ene¬ 
mies,  but  afford  him  help  under  his  affliction,  and  deliver  him 
from  the  misfortune  lie  was  under.  Accordingly,  God  was 
.moved  with  his  entreaties,  and  raised  him  up  a  plentiful  foun¬ 
tain  of  sweet  water  at  a  certain  rock :  whence  it  was  that 


Book  V. 


336  ANTIQUITIES 

Sampson  called  the  place  *The  Jaw-bone ,  and  so  it  is  called 
to  this  day. 

10.  After  this  fight,  Sampson  had  the  Philistines  in  con¬ 
tempt,  and  came  to  Gaza,  and  took  up  his  lodgings  in  a  cer¬ 
tain  inn.  When  the  rnlers  of  Gaza  were  informed  of  his 
coming  thither,  they  seized  upon  the  gates,  and  placed  men 
in  ambush  about  them,  that  he  might  not  escape  without  be¬ 
ing  perceived  :  but  Sampson,  who  was  acquainted  with  then- 
contrivances  against  him,  arose  up  about  midnight,  and  ran 
by  force  upon  the  gates,  with  their  posts  and  beams,  and  the 
rest  of  their  wooden  furniture,  and  carried  them  away  on 
his  shoulders,  and  bare  them  to  the  mountain  that  is  over  He¬ 
bron,  and  there  laid  them  down. 

11.  However,  he  at  length  f transgressed  the  laws  of 
his  country,  and  altered  his  own  regular  way  of  living,  and 
imitated  the  strange  customs  of  foreigners,  which  thing  was 
the  beginning  of  his  miseries ;  for  he  fell  in  love  with  a  wo¬ 
man  that  was  an  harlot  among  the  Philistines:  her  name  was 
Delilah ,  and  he  lived  with  her.  So  those  that  administered 

•the  public  affairs  of  the  Philistines  came  to  her,  and  with 
promises  induced  her  to  get  out  of  Sampson  what  was  the 
cause  of  that  his  strength,  by  which  he  became  unconquera¬ 
ble  to  his  enemies.  Accordingly,  when  they  were  drinking, 
and  had  the  like  conversation  together,  she  pretended  to  ad¬ 
mire  the  actions  he  had  done,  and  contrived  to  get  out  of  him 
by  subtilty,  by  what  means  he  so  much  excelled  others  in 
strength.  Sampson,  in  order  to  delude  Delilah,  for  he  had 
not  yet  lost  his  senses,  replied,  that  if  he  were  bound  with 
seven  such  green  withs  of  a  vine  as  might  still  be  wreathed, 
he  should  be  weaker  than  any  other  man.  The  woman  said 
no  more  then,  but  told  this  to  the  rulers  of  the  Philistines, 
and  hid  certain  of  the  soldiers  in  ambush  within  the  house, 
and  when  he  was  disordered  in  drink  and  asleep,  she  bound 
him,  as  fast  as  possible  with  the  withs;  and  then  upon  her 
awakening  him,  She  told  him  some  of  the  people  were  upon 
him,  but  he  broke  the  withs  and  endeavoured  to  defend  him¬ 
self,  as  though  some  of  the  people  were  upon  him.  Now 


*  This  fotiutain  called  Lehi,  or,  The  Jaw-bone,  is  still  in  being,  as  tra¬ 
vellers  assure  us,  and  was  known  by  this  very  name  in  t  he  days  of  Jose¬ 
phus,  and  has  been  known  by  the  same  name  in  all  these  past  ages.  See 
Anticp  B  vii.  ch.  xii.  §  4.  vol.  ii. 

t  See  this  justly  observed  in  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  B.  vii.  ch. 
xxxvii.  that  Sampson’s  prayer  was  heard  but  that  it  was  before  this  i.iS' 
transgression. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


Chap.  VIII. 


2  of** 
>j/ 


this  woman,  in  the  constant  conversation  Sampson  had  with 
her,  pretended  that  she  took  it  very  ill  that  he  had  such  lit¬ 
tle  confidence  in  her  affections  to  him,  that  he  would  not  tell 
her  what  she  desired,  as  if  she  would  not  conceal  what  she 
knew  it  was  for  his  interest  to  have  concealed.  However, 
he  deluded  her  again,  and  told  her,  that  if  they  bound  him 
with  seven  cords,  he  should  lose  his  strength.  And  when, 
Upon  doing  this,  she  gained  nothing,  he  told  her  the  third  time, 
that  his  hair  should  be  woven  into  a  web  ;  but,  when  upon 
doing  this,  the  truth  was  not  yet  discovered.  At  length 
Sampson,  upon  Delilah’s  prayer,  (for  he  was  doomed  to  fall 
into  some  affliction,)  was  desirous  to  please  her,  and  told  her, 
that  “  God  took  care  of  him,  and  that  he  was  born  b^  his 
providence,  and  that  thence  it  is  that  I  suffer  my  hair  to 
grow,  God  having  charged  me  never  to  poll  my  head,  and 
thence  my  strength  is  according  to  the  increase  and  continu¬ 
ance  of  my  hair.”  When  she  had  learned  thus  much,  and 
had  deprived  him  of  his  hair,  she  delivered  him  up  to  his 
enemies  when  he  was  not  strong  enough  to  defend  himself 
from  their  attempts  upon  him  ;  so  they  put  out  his  eyes,  and 
bound  him,  and  had  him  led  about  among  them. 

12.  But  in  process  of  time,  Sampson’s  hair  grew  again,  and 
there  was  a  public  festival  among  the  Philistines,  when  the 
rulers,  and  those  of  the  most  eminent  character,  were  feast¬ 
ing  together,  (now  the  room  wherein  they  were,  had  its  roof 
supported  by  two  pillars,)  so  they  sent  for  Sampson,  and  he 
was  brought  to  their  feast,  that  they  might  insult  him  in  their 
cups.  Hereupon  he,  thinking  it  one  of  the  greatest  misfor¬ 
tunes  if  he  should  not  be  able  to  revenge  himself  when  he 
was  thus  insulted,  persuaded  the  boy  that  led  him  b}^  the 
hand,  that  he  was  weary,  and  wanted  to  rest  himself,  and  de¬ 
sired  he  would  bring  him  near  the  pillars;  and  as  soon  as  he 
came  to  them,  he  rushed  with  force  against  them,  and  over¬ 
threw  the  house  by  overthrowing  its  pillars,  with  three  thou¬ 
sand  men  in  it,  who  were  all  slain,  and  Sampson  with  them. 
And  such  was  the  end  of  this  man,  when  he  had  ruled  over 
the  Israelites  twenty  years.  And  indeed  this  man  deserves 
to  be  admired  for  his  courage  and  strength,  and  magnanimity 
at  his  death,  and  that  his  wrath  against  his  enemies  went  so 
far  as  to  die  himself  with  them.  But  as  for  his  being  ensnar¬ 
ed  by  a  woman,  that  is  to  be  ascribed  to  human  nature,  which 
is  too  weak  to  resist  the  temptations  to  that  sin ;  but  we 
ought  to  bear  him  witness,  that  in  all  other  respects  he  was 
one  of  extraordinary  virtue.  But  his  kindred  took  away  his 

VOL.  v.  F  f 


338  ANTIQUITIES  -  Booh  V. 

body,  and  buried  it  in  Sarasat,  his  own  country,  with  the  rest 
of  his  family. 


CHAP.  IX. 

How,  under  Eli’s  government  of  the  Israelites ,  Booz  married 

Ruth,  from  whom  came  Obed,  the  grandfather  of  David. 

§  1.  Now  after  the  death  of  Sampson,  Eli  the  high-priest 
was  governor  of  the  Israelites.  Under  him,  when  the  coun¬ 
try  was  afflicted  with  a  famine,  Elimelech  of  Bethlehem, 
which  is  a  city  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  being  not  able  to  sup¬ 
port  his  family  under  so  sore  a  distress,  took  with  him  Nao¬ 
mi  his  wife,  and  the  children  that  were  born  to  him  by  her, 
Chilion  and  Mahlon,  and  removed  his  habitation  into  the  land 
of  Moab  ;  and  upon  the  happy  prosperity  of  his  affairs  there 
lie  took  for  his  sons  wives  of  the  Moabites,  Orphafor  Chilion, 
and  Ruth  for  Mahlon.  But  in  the  compass  often  years, both 
Elimelech,  and  a  little  while  after  him,  the  sons  died:  and 
Naomi  being  very  uneasy  at  these  accidents,  and  not  able  to 
bear  her  lonesome  condition,  now  those  that  were  dearest  to 
her  were  dead,  on  whose  account  it  was  that  she  had  gone 
away  from  her  own  country,  she  returned  to  it  again,  for  she 
had  been  informed  it  wras  now  in  a  flourishing  condition. 
However  her  daughters-in-law  were  not  able  to  think  of 
parting  with  her,  and  when  they  had  a  mind  +o  go  out  of  the 
country  with  her,  she  could  not  dissuade  them  from  it ;  but 
when  they  insisted  upon  it,  sue  wished  them  a  more  happy 
wedlock  than  they  had  had  with  her  sons,  and  that  they  might 
have  prosperity  in  other  respects  also  5  and  seeing  her  own 
affairs  were  so  low,  she  exhorted  them  to  stay  where  they 
were,  and  not  to  think  of  leaving  their  own  country,  and 
partaking  with  her  of  that  uncertainty  under  which  she  must 
return.  Accordingly,  Orpha  stayed  behind,  but  she  took 
Ruth  along  with  her,  as  not  to  be  persuaded  to  stay  behind 
her,  but  would  take  her  fortune  with  her,  whatsoever  it  should 
prove. 

2.  When  Ruth  was  come  with  her  mother-in-law  to  Beth¬ 
lehem,  Booz,  who  was  near  a  kin  to  Elimelech,  entertained 
her :  and  when  Naomi  was  so  called  by  her  fellow-citizens, 
according  to  her  true  name,  she  said,  “  You  might  more  tru¬ 
ly  call  me  Mara.”  Now  Naomi  signifies  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue  happiness ,  and  Mara  sorrow.  It  wras  now  reaping- 
time;  and  Ruth,  by  the  leave  of  her  mother-in-law,  went 
out  to  glean,  that  they  might  get  a  stock  of  corn  for  their 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


339 


£hap.  XL 

food.  Now  it  happened  that  she  came  into  Booz’s  field  ;  and 
after  some  time  Booz  came  thither,  and  when  he  saw  the 
damsel,  he  inquired  of  his  servant,  who  was  set  over  the 
reapers,  concerning  the  girl.  The  servant  had  a  little  before 
inquired  about  all  her  circumstances,  and  told  them  to  his 
master,  who  kindly  embraced  her,  both  on  account  of  her  af¬ 
fection  to  her  mother-in-law,  and  her  remembrance  of  that 
son  other’s  to  whom  she  had  been  married,  and  wished  that 
she  might  experience  a  prosperous  condition  :  so  he  desired 
her  not  to  glean,  but  to  reap  what  she  was  able,  and  gave  her 
leave  to  carry  it  home.  He  also  gave  it  in  charge  to  that 
servant  who  was  set  over  the  reapers,  not  to  hinder  her  when 
she  took  it  away,  and  bid  him  give  her  her  dinner,  and  make 
her  drink,  when  he  did  the  like  to  the  reapers.  Now  what 
corn  Ruth  received  of  him  she  kept  for  her  mother-in-law 
and  came  to  her  in  the  evening,  and  brought  the  ears  of  corn 
with  her;  and  Naomi  had  kept  for  her  a  part  of  such  food 
as  her  neighbours  had  plentifully  bestowed  upon  her.  Ruth 
also  told  her  mother-in-law  what  Booz  had  said  to  her ;  and 
when  the  other  had  informed  her  that  he  was  near  of  kin  to_ 
them,  and  perhaps  was  so  pious  a  man  as  to  make  some  pro¬ 
vision  for  them,  she  went  out  again  on  the  days  following  to 
gather  the  gleanings  with  Booz’s  maid-servants. 

3.  It  was  not  many  days  before  Booz,  after  the  barley  w'as 
winnowed,  slept  in  his  threshing-floor.  When  Naomi  was 
informed  of  this  circumstance,  she  contrived  it  so  that  Ruth 
should  lie  down  by  him,  for  she  thought  it  might  be  for  then- 
advantage  that  he  should  discourse  with  the  girl.  Accord- 
ingly,  she  sent  the  damsel  to  sleep  at  his  feet,  who  went  as  she 
bade  her,  for  she  did  not  think  it  consistent  with  her  duty  to 
contradict  any  command  of  her  mother-in-law’s.  And  at  first 
she  lay  concealed  from  Booz,  as  he  was  fast  asleep ;  but  when 
he  awaked  about  midnight,  and  perceived  a  woman  lying  by 
him,  he  asked  who  she  was ;  and  when  she  told  him  her 
name,  and  desired  that  he  whom  she  owned  for  her  lord, 
would  excuse  her,  he  then  said  no  more,  but  in  the  morning, 
before  the  servants  began  to  set  about  their  work,  he  awaked 
her,  and  bid  her  take  as  much  barley  as  she  waj  able  to  car¬ 
ry,  and  go  to  her  mother-in-law,  before  any  body  there 
should  see  that  she  had  lain  down  by  him,  because  it  was  but 
prudent  to  avoid  any  reproach  that  might  arise  on  that  ac¬ 
count,  especially  when  there  had  been  nothing  done  that  was 
ill.  But  as  to  the  main  point  she  aimed  at,  the  matter  should 
rest  here,  “  He  that  is  nearer  of  kin  than  I  am,  shall  be  ask¬ 
ed  whether  he  wants  to  take  thee  to  wife ;  if  he  says  he  does, 


340  ANTIQUITIES  Booh  V. 

thou  shalt  follow  him  ;  but  if  he  refuse  it,  I  will  marry  thee 
according  to  the  law.” 

4.  When  she  had  informed  her  mother-in-law  of  this,  they 
were  very  glad  of  it,  out  of  the  hope  they  had  that  Booz 
would  make  provision  for  them.  Now  about  noon,  Booz  went 
down  into  the  city,  and  gathered  the  senate  together,  and 
when  he  had  sent  for  Ruth,  he  called  for  her  kinsman  also; 
and  when  he  was  come,  he  said,  Dost  not  thou  retain  the  in¬ 
heritance  of  Elimelech  and  his  sons  ?  He  confessed  that  he 
did  retain  it,  and  that  he  did  as  he  was  permitted  to  do  by  the 
laws,  because  he  was  their  nearest  kinsman.  Then  said 
Booz,  “  Thou  must  not  remember  the  laws  by  halves,  but 
do  every  thing  according  to  them  ;  for  the  wife  of  Mahlon  is 
come  hither,  whom  thou  must  marry,  according  to  the  law's, 
in  case  thon  wilt  retain  their  fields.”  So  the  man  yielded  up 
both  the  field  and  the  wife  to  Booz,  who  was  himself  of  kin 
to  those  that  were  dead,  as  alleging  that  he  had  a  wife  already, 
and  children  also  :  so  Booz  called  the  senate  to  witness;  and 
bid  the  woman  to  loose  his  shoe,  and  spit  in  his  face,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  law  :  and  when  this  was  done,  Booz  married  Ruth, 
and  they  had  a  son  within  a  year’s  time.  Naomi  was  her¬ 
self  a  nurse  to  this  child ;  and  by  the  advice  of  the  woman 
called  him  Obed,  as  being  to  be  brought  up  in  order  to  be 
subservient  to  her  in  her  old  age,  for  Obed  in  the  Hebrew  dia¬ 
lect  sigifies  a  servant.  The  son  of  Obed  was  Jesse,  and  Da¬ 
vid  was  his  son,  who  was  king,  and  left  his  dominions  to  his 
sons  for  one  and  twenty  generations.  I  was  therefore  obli¬ 
ged  to  relate  this  history  of  Ruth,  because  I  had  a  mind  to  de¬ 
monstrate  the  power  of  God,  who,  without  difficulty,  can 
raise  those  that  are  of  ordinary  parentage  to  dignity  and  splen¬ 
dour,  to  which  he  advanced  David,  though  he  were  born  of 
such  mean  parents. 

CHAP.  X. 

Concerning  the  birth  of  Samuel ;  and  how  he  foretold  the  ca¬ 
lamity  that  befell  the  sons  of  Eli. 

§  1.  And  now,  upon  the  ill  state  of  the  affairs  of  the  He¬ 
brews,  they  made  war  upon  the  Philistines.  The  occasion 
was  this  :  Eli  the  high-priest  had  two  sons,  Hophni  and  Phi- 
neas.  These  sons  of  Eli  were  guilty  of  injustice  towards 
men,  and  of  impiety  towards  God,  and  abstained  from  no  sort 
of  wickedness.  Some  of  their  gifts  they  carried  off,  as  be¬ 
longing  to  the  honourable  employment  they  had,  others  of 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


341 


Chap.  X. 

them  they  took  away  by  violence.  They  also  were  guilty  of 
impurity  with  the  women  that  came  to  worship  God  [at  the 
tabernacle,]  obliging  some  to  submit  to  their  lust  by  force, 
and  enticing  others  by  bribes  ;  nay,  the  whole  course  of  their 
life  was  no-better  than  tyranny.  Their  father,  therefore,  was 
angry  at  them  for  such  their  wickedness,  and  expected  tiiat: 
God  would  suddenly  inflict  his  punishments  upon  them  for 
what  they  had  done.  The  multitude  took  it  heinously  also. 
And  as  soon  as  God  had  foretold  what  calamity  would  befall 
Eli’s  sons,  which  he  did  both  to  Eh  himself,  and  to  Samuel 
the  prophet,  who  was  yet  but  a  child,  he  openly  showed  his 
sorrow  for  his  son’s  destruction. 

2.  1  will  first  dispatch  what  I  have  to  say  about  the  pro¬ 
phet  Samuel,  and  after  that  will  proceed  to  speak  of  the  sons 
of  Eli,  and  the  miseries  they  brought  on  the  whole  people 
of  the  Hebrews.  Elcanah,  a  Levite,  one  of  a  middle  condi¬ 
tion  among  his  fellow-citizens,  and  one  that  dwelt  at  Rama- 
thaim,  a  city  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  married  two  wives 
Hannah  and  Peninnah.  He  had  children  by  the  latter,  but 
lie  loved  the  other  best,  although  she  were  barren.  INow 
Elcanah  came  with  his  wives  to  the  city  Shiloh  to  sacrifice, 
for  there  it  was  that  the  tabernacle  of  God  was  fixed,  as  we 
have  formerly  said.  Now  when,  after  he  had  sacrificed,  he 
distributed  at  that  festival  portions  of  the  flesh  to  his  wives 
and  children,  and  when  Hannah  saw  the  other  wife’s  children 
sitting  round  about  their  mother,  she  fell  into  tears,  and  la¬ 
mented  herself  on  account  of  her  barrenness  and  lonesome- 
ness  j  and  suffering  her  grief  to  prevail  over  her  husband’s 
consolations  to  her,  she  went  to  the  tabernacle  to  beseech 
God  to  give  her  seed,  and  to  make  her  a  mother  $  and  to  vow 
to  consecrate  the  first  son  she  should  bear  to  the  service  of 
God,  and  this  in  such  a  way,  that  his  manner  of  living  should 
not  be  like  that  of  ordinary  men.  And  as  she  continued  at 
her  prayers  a  long  time,  Eli  the  high-priest,  for  he  sat  there 
before  the  tabernacle,  bid  her  go  awray,  thinking  she  had  been 
disordered  with  wine  ;  but  when  she  said  she  drank  water, 
but  was  in  sorrow  for  want  of  children,  and  was  beseeching 
God  for  them,  he  bid  her  be  of  good  cheer,  and  told  her  God 
would  send  her  children. 

3.  So  she  came  to  her  husband  full  of  hope,  and  eat  her 
xneal  with  gladness  :  and  when  they  had  returned  to  their 
own  country,  she  found  herself  with  child  ;  and  they  had  a 
son  born  to  them,  to  whom  they  gave  the  name  of  Samuel, 
which  may  be  styled  one  that  was  asked  of  God.  They,  there¬ 
fore  came  to  the  tabernacle  to  offer  sacrifice  for  the  birth  of 


Ff2 


342 


Booh  V. 


ANTIQUITIES 

the  child,  and  brought  their  tythes  with  them  ;  but  the  wo¬ 
man  remembered  the  vow  she  had  made  concerning  her  son, 
and  delivered  him  to  Eli,  dedicating  him  to  God,  that  he 
might  become  a  prophet.  Accordingly,  his  hair  was  suffered 
to  grow  long,  and  his  drink  was  water.  So  Samuel  dwelt 
and  was  brought  up  in  the  temple.  But  Elcanah  had  other 
sons  by  Hannah,  and  three  daughters. 

4.  Now  when  Samuel  was  twelve  years  old  he  began  to 
prophesy  ;  and  when  he  was  once  asleep,  God  called  to  him 
by  his  name,  but  he  supposing  he  had  been  called  by  the 
high-priest  ;  but  when  the  high-priest  said  he  did  not  call  him, 
God  did  so  thrice.  Eli  was  then  so  tar  illuminated,  that  he 
said  to  him,  u  Indeed,  Samuel,  I  was  silent  now  as  well  as 
before:  it  is  God  that  calls  thee  :  do  thou,  therefore,  signify 
it  to  him,  and  say,  I  am  here  ready.”  So  when  he  heard  God 
speak  again,  he  desired  him  to  speak,  and  to  deliver  what  or¬ 
acles  he  pleased  to  him,  for  he  would  not  fail  to  perform  any 
ministration  whatsoever  he  should  make  use  of  him  in  ;  to 
which  God  replied,  “  Since  thou  art  here  ready,  learn  what 
miseries  are  coming  upon  the  Israelites,  such  indeed  as  words 
cannot  declare,  nor  faith  believe  ;  for  the  sons  of  Eli  shall  die 
on  one  day,  and  the  priesthood  shall  be  transmitted  into  the 
family  of  Eleazer,  for  Eli  hath  loved  his  sons  more  than  he 
hath  loved  my  worship,  and  to  such  a  degree,  as  is  not  for 
their  advantage.”  Which  message  Eli  obliged  the  prophet 
by  oath  to  tell  him,  for  otherwise  Ire  had  no  inclination  to  af- 
llict  him  by  telling  it.  And  now  Eli  had  a  far  more  sure  ex¬ 
pectation  of  the  perdition  of  his  sons  ;  but  the  glory  of  Sam¬ 
uel  increased  more,  it  being  found  by  experience  that  whatso¬ 
ever  he  ^prophesied  came  to  pass  accordingly. 


CHAP.  XI. 

Herein  is  declared  what  befell  the  sons  of  Eli,  the  ark,  and 
the  people  ;  and  how  Eli  himself  died  miser  ably. 

§  1.  About  this  time  it  was  that  the  Philistines  made  war 
against  the  Israelites,  and  pitched  their  camp  at  the  city 
Aphek.  Now  when  the  Israelites  had  expected  them  a  little 

*  Although  I  here  had  been  a  few  occasional  prophets  before,  yet  was 
this  Samuel  the  first  of  a  constant  succession  of  prophets  in  the  Jewish 
nation  ,  as  implied  in  St-Teter  ’s  words,  Actsiii.24.  Yea,  and  all  the  pro¬ 
phets  from  Samuel,  and  those  that  follow  after ,  as  many  as  have  spoken, 
have  likewise  foretold  of  these  days  See  Acts  xiii.  20.  The  other  were 
rather  sometimes  called  righteous  nun.  Matlb.  x.  41,  xiii.  17. 


OF  THE  JEWS. 


343 


Chap.  XL 


while,  the  very  next  day  they  joined  battle,  and  the  Philis¬ 
tines  were  conquerors,  and  slew  above  four  thousand  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  pursued  the  rest  of  the  multitude  to  their  camp. 

2.  So  the  Hebrews,  being  afraid  of  the  worst,  sent  to  the 
senate,  and  to  the  high-priest,  and  desired  that  they  would 
bring  the  ark  of  God,  that  by  {tutting  themselves  in  array, 
when  it  was  present  with  them,  they  might  be  too  hard  for 
their  enemies,  as  not  reflecting  that  he  who  had  condemned 
them  to  endure  these  calamities,  was  greater  than  the  ark, 
and  for  whose  sake  it  was  that  this  ark  came  to  be  honoured. 
So  the  ark  came,  and  the  sons  of  the  high-priest  within,  hav¬ 
ing  received  a  charge  from  their  father,  that  if  they  pretend¬ 
ed  to  survive  the  taking  of  the  ark,  they  should  come  no 
more  into  his  presence  ;  for  Phineas  officiated  already  as 
high-priest,  his  father  having  resigned  his  office  to  him,  by 
reason  of  his  great  age.  So  the  Hebrews  were  full  of  cour¬ 
age,  as  supposing  that  by  the  coming  of  the  ark  they  should 
be  too  hard  for  their  enemies  ;  their  enemies  were  also  great¬ 
ly  concerned,  and  were  afraid  of  the  ark’s  coming  to  the  Is¬ 
raelites  ;  however,  the  upshot  did  not  prove  agreeable  to  the 
expectation  of  both  sides,  but  when  the  battle  was  joined,  that 
victory  which  the  Hebrews  expected,  was  gained  by  the  Phi¬ 
listines,  and  that  defeat  the  Philistines  were  afraid  of,  fell  to 
the  lot  of  the  Israelites,  and  thereby  they  found  that  they 
had  put  their  trust  in  the  ark  in  vain,  for  they  were  present¬ 
ly  beaten  as  soon  as  they  came  to  a  close  fight  with  their  ene¬ 
mies,  and  lost  about  thirty  thousand  men,  among  which  were 
the  sons  of  the  high-priest ;  but  the  ark  was  carried  away  by 
the  enemies. 

3.  When  the  news  of  this  defeat  came  to  Shiloh,  with  that 
of  the  captivity  of  the  ark,  (for  a  certain  young  man,  a  Ben¬ 
ia  mite,  who  was  in  the  action,  came  as  a  messenger  thither,) 
the  whole  city  was  full  of  lamentations.  And  Eli  the  high- 
priest,  w  ho  sat  upon  an  high  throne  at  one  of  the  gates,  heard 
their  mournful  cries,  and  supposed  that  some  strange  thing 
had  befallen  his  family  :  so  he  sent  for  the  young  man  ;  and 
when  he  understood  what  had  happened  in  the  battle,  he  was 
not  much  uneasy  as  to  his  sons,  or  what  was  told  him  withal 
about  the  army,  as  having  beforehand  known  by  divine  reve¬ 
lation  that  those  things  would  happen,  and  having  himself  de¬ 
clared  them  beforehand,  for  what  sad  things  come  unexpect¬ 
edly,  they  distress  men  the  most ;  but  as  soon  as  the  ark  was 
carried  captive  by  their  enemies,  he  was  very  much  grieved 
at  it,  because  it  fell  out  quite  differently  from  what  he  ex¬ 
pected,  so  he  fell  down  from  his  throne,  and  died,  having  in 


ANTIQUITIES 


344 


Book  I . 


all  lived  ninety-eight  years,  and  of  them  retained  the  govern¬ 
ment  forty. 

4.  On  the  same  day  his  son  Phineas’s  wife  died  also,  as 
not  able  to  survive  the  misfortune  of  her  husband  ;  for  they 
told  her  of  her  husband’s  death  as  she  was  in  labour.  How¬ 
ever,  she  bare  a  son  at  seven  months,  who  lived,  and  to 
which  they  gave  the  name  of  Ichabod,  which  name  signifies 
disgrace ,  and  this  because  the  army  received  a  disgrace  at 
this  time; 

5.  Now  Eli  was  the  first  of  the  family  of  Ithamar,  the  other 
son  of  Aaron,  that  had  the  government,  for  the  family  of  Elea- 
zer  officiated  as  high-priest  at  first,  the  son  still  receiving 
that  honour  from  the  father  which  Eleazer  bequeathed  to  his 
son  Phineas ;  after  whom  Abiezer  his  son  took  the  honour, 
and  delivered  it  to  his  son  whose  name  was  Bukki,  from  whom 
his  son  Ozi  received  it  ;  after  whom  Eli,  of  whom  we  have 
been  speaking,  had  the  priesthood,  and  so  he  and  his  posteri¬ 
ty  until  the  time  of  Solomon’s  reign  j  but  then  the  posterity 
of  Eleazer  reassumed  it. 


END  OF  VOL.  I. 


BS1197  .J83A23  1824  v.l 

The  geniune  works  of  Flavius  Josephus. 


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